On the eve of the World Spay Day that is celebrated worldwide in the last Tuesday of every February, there is an urgent need to educate the animal lovers about the tremendous health benefits carried by spaying and neutering for their pets. This year the World Spay Day falls on 26th February 2019 and it gives an opportunity for you as a pet owner to adopt this practice for the well being of your pet. If you are worried about the cost involved in the process, let us tell you that nowadays there are a lot of such veterinary clinics have come into existence which offers low-cost spay and neuter and they are run by experienced veterinarians and your pet can safely undergo this process.
How it started?
The idea behind the celebration of this practice is to control the overgrowing population of the dogs and cats and to save them from various health hazards. It was started by Doris Day Animal League (DDAL), the USA in the year 1995 when it saw that the euthanasia practice or in other words medically terminated practice to put down the pets touched an alarming 14 to 17 million.
This spaying and neutering received growing popularity and within the first 15 years of the inception of this practice, around 1.5 million spay and neutering happened. Many people treat pets as their family members and therefore this practice gives them an opportunity to give the best life to their pets.
The need for sterilization and population control for pets
Every day you read horrified stories of dogs and cats are being abandoned in the streets and being killed in accidents. This naturally upsets you as a pet lover. The shelter houses are also overcrowded because of this. This overgrowing number of the population of pets can be controlled with spaying and neutering. The benefit of this practice is that it not only eliminates their reproduction capacity but at the same time saves them from various deadly diseases like cancer, uterine infection, rabies etc. It also helps to minimize animal aggression like territorial instinct in dogs and help the pet owners to better manage them.
For both the species, cats and dogs, spaying and neutering prevents diseases such as ovarian cancer, testicles cancer, breast cancer and this subsequently help them to live longer.
Spaying and neutering prevents suffering in animals
Many such unwanted dogs and cats are there in the world who suffers daily on the road due to starvation and abuse by a human. Cruelty goes to such an extent that it touches the heart of pet owners when they see these pets suffered. Many pet-friendly organizations worldwide have adopted various measures to prevent and minimize the suffering of animals from them to time and their effort deserves praise.
When it should be done?
Spaying and neutering should be performed within six to nine months of your pets or older than that. Recent research in this field has suggested that pets can be sterilized even at a much younger age than the recommended age.
However, this practice may vary according to breed. Therefore it is better to consult your local veterinarian as when to perform the sterilization on your pet. Last but not the least spaying and neutering does not interfere with the playing ability, hunting ability or their general ability to learn.
Final Insight
A lot of organizations are taking initiative through spaying and neutering to protect the pets from diseases, to control their behaviors and to promote their overall well being. Their effort should be reciprocated by the pet owners by adopting spaying and neutering to their animals. Here lies the success of the whole mission of World Spay Day.
