Did you know a single unaltered cat and her offspring can produce more than 400,000 cats in their lifetime? Over time, this creates a massive burden and impact on local shelters, which stretches resources and available space. Spaying and neutering pets is one way to lessen this avoidable strain.
During an average year, the Bradshaw Animal Shelter cares for more than 13,000 animals. Of those, more than 7,000 are spayed or neutered at the shelter or through available programs, grants and donated funds from organizations like
Teaching Everyone Animals Matter (TEAM). Last year, the shelter also provided approximately $66,840 in
low-cost spay and neuter vouchers to low-income Sacramento County residents through the Sacramento Area Animals Coalition’s (SAAC) Voucher Program. For feral cats in the community, the shelter offers a
Return-to-Field (RTF) Program, which is a humane and effective method of managing feral and community cat populations.
In addition to providing a solution to overpopulation, there are numerous health and other benefits to spay/neutering, including:
- Prevention of pet-related diseases, including cancers
- In some cases, behaviors like roaming, aggression and barking may improve
- Increased life expectancy and overall quality of life
- Reduced licensing fees (licensing an altered pet is cheaper than licensing an unaltered pet)
February is Spay and Neuter Awareness Month. Here are some ways to help: