Happy dog!
A staggering three to four million dogs and cats are euthanized in the US every year. That’s more than 10,000 animals per day and over 400 per hour.
It’s easy to understand, with numbers like these, how animal shelters across the country are literally bursting at the seams with unwanted animals. These sobering statistics shine a stark light on the need for education about and availability of spaying and neutering of companion animals.
To help reduce these staggering euthanasia numbers, Animal Friends, a premier companion animal resource center, has embarked on a comprehensive, community-wide spay/neuter initiative to reduce, and eventually eliminate, pet overpopulation in southwestern Pennsylvania. This program targets counties like Allegheny, where 25,000 abandoned or homeless companion animals enter shelters each year, and of those, 10,000 are euthanized because adoptive homes can’t be found.
Animal Friends is a non-profit companion animal resource center serving the needs of pets and people since 1943. Their progressive programs have been nationally recognized and include:
- Humane rescue
- Shelter and adoption services for over 2,500 pets annually
- Humane education
- Pet behavior classes
- Pet-assisted therapy
- Wellness programs
- Community-wide spay/neuter programs
Animal Friends, who’s motto is “Thinking outside the cage,” is supported by donations, 700 volunteers and a staff dedicated to ensuring the well being of companion animals and ending overpopulation, abuse and unwarranted euthanasia.
Currently the organization is undergoing a massive effort to go community by community in southwestern Pennsylvania to attack the pet overpopulation problem from low-income pet owners who can’t afford spaying, feral cat colony caregivers and pit bull owners. They also assist smaller organizations that lack spay/neuter programs.
There are three key components of the Animal Friends initiative:
- Low-Cost Spay Neuter Program. This program provides financial assistance to low-income pet owners so they can obtain spay/neuter services. It has been working to relieve pet overpopulation since 1993 and has spayed and neutered over 30,000 animals, preventing births of over 2.5 million unwanted pets.
- In-house Spay/Neuter Services. With the addition of this program in 2008, Animal Friends has already performed over 4,000 surgeries on pets of low-income pet owners who can’t afford to pay for the surgery at a veterinarian’s office.
- Mobile Resource Center. This 30-foot vehicle serves as a mobile spay/neuter clinic and is the only unit of its kind in western Pennsylvania. This mobile clinic allows Animal Friends to travel to the pets who need them the most.
Part of the education process is helping pet owners understand why spaying and neutering is important beyond the staggering euthanasia statistics. Having a pet spayed or neutered also helps to:
- Reduce the pet’s risk of cancer and infection
- Make the pet less likely to run away
- Ensure a calmer, happier animal companion.
Unfortunately, there are still several myths that persist regarding spaying and neutering. The Humane Society of the United States (www.hsus.org) effectively tackles these myths and the related facts here.
Given the rural nature of much of southwestern Pennsylvania, unwanted pets are frequently dumped, left to fend for themselves. Caring locals often attempt to tend for these animals, willingly taking on financial hardship to keep them alive and safe. One such angel is Kathy.
Feral cat eyeing dinner.
The cat problem in the rural area where Kathy lives first became apparent when her dogs attacked the strays that came into her fenced yard. Fearing for the cats’ safety, she carefully monitored her dogs and sought help for the cats.
First she turned to the township, which refused to intervene unless the animals were rabid. Next, the local animal control agency told her cats were difficult to catch, so they wouldn’t be able to help her either.
Ironically, it was at her allergist’s office that Kathy heard of Animal Friends’ Low Cost Spay/Neuter Program. She learned that she could obtain a spay/neuter voucher to take to a local veterinarian who works with Animal Friends, significantly reducing the expense of the surgery. She initially took about 10 cats to be altered, and was delighted that she had solved the problem. But soon a pregnant cat was dropped off, adding five kittens to her property.
Kathy continues to commit to ensuring that the cats survive but don’t reproduce. Even though she’s had times of financial difficulty, she keeps working with Animal Friends to obtain the vouchers. She has used birthday and Christmas money, wrapped coins, and even her winnings from a lottery ticket to support her mission. Friends have donated money as well, and she and her husband have raised additional funds through recycling aluminum cans.
The irony in Kathy’s cause is that her allergies prevent her from bringing the cats into her home. So Kathy and her husband enclosed a porch to provide a warm place for the cats to winter. Having altered 17 cats this year alone, she is nearly caught up, but was delayed just a bit by family medical bills and vet bills for her husky.
Surprisingly, Kathy has never even visited Animal Friends, but she doesn’t hesitate to express her gratitude for the service they make available to her. When a cat shows up, she calls Nancy Hanson, Animal Friends‘ Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Counselor, to arrange for the surgery locally. “Nancy has been so helpful every time I call,” Kathy says. “Whenever I need help, she’s there.” If cats in Kathy’s care could talk, they would surely say the same about her.
