What is Pet Overpopulation?

What does pet overpopulation have to do with me?

 Solving pet overpopulation takes effort from everyone in the community. Be a responsible pet owner and encourage others to do the same. Spay or neuter your pets, make sure they are wearing current identification all the time, and adopt a pet from a shelter rather than buying one from a pet store or breeder.  

Allowing your pet to breed, even just one time, has many negative consequences. These include:

• Each time you place one of your puppies or kittens in a home, there is one fewer potential home for another animal...remember, just that morning Salt Lake County Animal Services had to put animals to death because of a lack of loving homes. 
• Every time a litter is born, new breeders are born.  In less than a year, all of the little ones in your pet litter could be having litters of their own.
• Salt Lake County Animal Services is just one of 11 tax-payer-funded animal shelters in the valley.  Pet overpopulation is costly to taxpayers, in addition to being devastating for so many lives.  Salt Lake County Animal Services takes in approximately 40 animals every single day of the year.

What do spay and neuter mean?

Females are spayed, males are neutered.  Basically, the female reproductive organs are removed in a spay operation.  For a neuter, the male testicles are removed.  In both cases, the simple procedure is performed while the animal is under anesthesia, and most pets can go home the same day.

What about pediatric spaying and neutering?

According to Jennifer Fakkema, DVM, who has been performing these early sterilizations (between 6-16 weeks of age) for many years, the procedure is simpler to perform, cost effective, and allows for a sterilized animal to be available for adoption.  In addition, the patients do very well, very quickly.  There has been much misinformation regarding this procedure.

Be part of the solution to pet overpopulation.

Spay or neuter your pets and encourage others to do the same.