Most people know those ASPCA commercials that break your heart with sad animals that need help. Their goal is to end animal abuse and neglect, which is directly related to animal overpopulation. This overpopulation is caused by owners not having their pets spayed or neutered and allowing them to go around and essentially reproduce whenever they want, and then not keep the offspring, which leads to hundreds of stray cats and dogs running around, which these then also reproduce, leading to an endless and repetitive cycle, creating overcrowding. The act of spaying/neutering pets can decrease not only animal overpopulation, but also animal illness and aggression.
​
Animals are very similar to humans; they can get many diseases that humans can. For example animals, can get fevers and common colds just like humans. About sixty percent of older unneutered dogs will suffer with genital problems, both dogs and cats have reduced risk of prostate cancer if neutered and no risk of testicular tumor. On top of this, they have way less of a chance getting ovarian or mammary cancer as well as pyometra, which is inflammation of the uterus. If they do not have these reproductive organs, they can’t get these ailments. This is not just an issue in the United States, overpopulation occurs across the world. For instance, in Ireland they have a program called ‘Spayaware’ one item they are trying to push is that “The latest recommendations are that spaying and neutering should be carried out at an earlier age than has previously been suggested…both cats and dogs should be neuter/spayed at four to six months. (Spayaware)” This can also save money in the long run for owners, as they wouldn’t have to pay for diagnosis, testing, treatments for these illnesses. What needs to be understood is that this ultimatum is an easy choice when you weigh the pros and cons. Why not completely take the risk of your beloved pet contracting a disease completely out of the equation? Alteration is such a common procedure that thousands of animals get done each year with little to no complications. Animal overpopulation can be solved by the removal of animals’ reproductive organs. Animal overpopulation is becoming a rapidly growing issue in the United States.
​
“About 2.4 million healthy, adoptable cats and dogs—about one every 13 seconds—are put down in U.S. shelters each year. Often these animals are the offspring of cherished family pets. Spay/neuter is a proven way to reduce pet overpopulation, ensuring that every pet has a family to love them.” (Humane Society)
​
So according to the Humane Society 2.4 million animals are euthanized for just being alive, not because they were overly aggressive, had a lethal illness that couldn’t be treated or cost too much to keep them alive, but because they simply had nowhere to go. “These high numbers are the result of unwanted, unplanned litters that could have been prevented by spaying or neutering” (Overpopulation). Every year there are people who want to breed their dog or cat, so they can have puppies or kittens, but what most of those people don’t seem to remember is that those puppies or kittens grow up, they aren’t babies forever. Then those animals that are now a few months old need homes because the owner don’t want them anymore because they are older. They then get taken to the shelter because they can't find homes for them, and this starts to add up, as so many people do this every day. For those few that do decide they want to keep them, they have to take into account about how much it costs having a puppy or kitten, especially since cats and dogs have anywhere from 3-6 babies at a time or more. Owners have to take into account the cost of extra food, check ups, vaccinations, annual boosters, grooming, and all the extra time and energy you will need to give to care for them. These reasons are why spaying and neutering is considered to be cost effective; the owner would spend less money on getting the surgery than having to pay for unwanted litters, soiled carpets, or veterinarian bills, the list goes on. Up to 508 puppies and 4,948 kittens can be born from one unspayed female dog and cat in seven years. That is a lot of perfectly healthy animals that need loving homes but are being euthanized in a shelter instead.
​
Neutering a pet can also take care of aggression and behavioral problems. Most of a dog's aggression is caused by an animal’s territorial instinct that they are born with in order to be an alpha. Some owners, mostly men, believe it’s wrong to take away their dog’s manhood. Even though, “Intact (unneutered) male dogs represented 90% of dogs presented to veterinary behaviorists for dominance aggression, the most commonly diagnosed type of aggression. Intact males are also involved in 70 to 76% of reported dog bite incidents” (Golab). If these dogs were neutered like it was recommended by the veterinarian, those incidents could have been avoided. Many dogs also calm down after this procedure, and may even be less aggressive towards other animals or people, as well as be less hyper. Along with aggression comes behavioral problems, such as inappropriate urination within the house. This can also prevent, stop or help with male cats spraying, which is an awful smell that no one wants to deal with. Also, a male dog that is still intact during mating season is more likely to run away, looking for the nearest female to mate with, which is why eighty-five percent of dogs hit by cars are unneutered (“Overpopulation”). No one wants to get that phone call that says their animal has been hit by a car and is hurt, this can help reduce those number significantly.
Spaying and neutering a dog is ultimately one of the best choice, there is no real logical reason not to. I know at first I used to think there was no point in removing a pet’s genitals. I thought that people should just make sure to keep their pets in sight when around other animals in order to keep them from getting pregnant. Then as I grew up I became more involved in the veterinary community by entering the veterinary assistant program at school and volunteering at The Pet Resource Center (my local animal shelter), I began to understand why it was so important. I learned that the main reason behind the surgery is to keep down the unwanted animal population, usually cats and dogs, and also to lower risks of reproductive organ diseases. When volunteering, I would help prep animals for surgery, ninety percent of the surgeries were routine neuters and spays. There were many protocols that had to be followed from how to clean the instruments to the way you had to put the animals back in there cage after surgery. If any professional is asked such as a veterinarian, animal control officer, or shelter personnel, they would all say to spay or neuter an animal. There are clinics dedicated just for spaying or neutering an animal, for example in the Tampa Bay Area there is SPOT Spay/Neuter Clinic, which since 2009 has performed over 30,000 surgeries; that's not even including shelters that do it for the those who are adopting their animal from them like the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center or the Humane Society.
​
On top of all the benefits spaying/neutering has, it is only a minor surgery, performed thousands of times every day, with little to no pain afterwards and a short recovery time. In fact, most animals are active just a few hours after surgery with no complications. However, the full healing process takes about 7 to 10 days, but compared to other surgeries, this is quick. Usually, there isn’t even a need for pain medication afterwards. It is also a cost-efficient surgery, as most local places, like mentioned above, will provide low prices for this common procedure.
​
Pets should be required to be spayed or neutered, as it lowers the risks of animals contracting illnesses, it reduces animal overpopulation, and reduces animal aggression. There are so many benefits to both the pet and the owner, it outweighs any negatives, if any, for this act. If only people would look at the facts and the big picture, instead of just the small picture, taking animals to get spayed/neutered does no harm to them, it only helps them, and many others one step at a time.
​