Warning: This topic may not be suitable for all readers.

A small tabby kitten mews plaintively as a man in a white coat preps a needle.  It yelps as the man picks it up and stabs it with the needle.  After a few seconds, the kitten stops wriggling.  It is dead.  This kitten is one of 5-8 million cats and dogs put down every year in United States animal shelters, according to the pets section on WebMD.  Spaying and neutering (also known as sterilization, altering, and desexing) pets is essential to being a good pet owner.  In this analysis, I will explain why I believe this.  It will include an overview of the companion animal overpopulation crisis in the United States, reasons to spay/neuter, medical facts about spay/neuter, how to get animals spayed/neutered, and laws about altering pets.

As previously stated, 5-8 million companion animals are killed in animal shelters every year due to overpopulation.  The animals who are euthanized aren’t the full extent of the United States’ animal overpopulation.  In Houston, TX alone, there are over a million stray animals according to the city’s pet shelter, BARC.  This number of animals is far beyond what our country’s shelters can deal with.  According to the Humane Society of the United States the country has only 3,500 shelters.  The amount of animals adopted from those shelters every year is half the amount going in.  According to Animal Health Network, a single female cat can produce over 100 litters in her lifetime, and 1 pair of cats and their descendants can make over 420 million kittens in 7 years.

Generally, animals of eight weeks or older can be spayed or neutered, though it is traditional to wait until around nine months of age.  Female animals should always be spayed before their first heat whenever possible, making the surgery easier.  It also reduces the chance of cancer if they are spayed before their first heat.  The medical benefits are major: spaying/neutering pets can help prevent several diseases according to the ASPCA, such as testicular or uterine cancer and breast tumors.  This will help pets live a healthy long life.  There are pluses to behavior too: spayed females won’t go into heat, and neutered males are generally more laid back because they have a lower level of testosterone.  Males also do less territory marking which helps homes stay pee free!  Some say that their dogs or cats become fat after being desexed.  I believe this is mostly due to owners not exercising their pets.

To get a pet sterilized, go to the nearest animal shelter for help finding a trusted group to perform the surgery or even to have it done onsite.  For example, Animal Humane Society in Minnesota works with multiple groups such as Kindest Cut.  Most of these groups provide desexing at a reduced cost, giving owners a discount on making sure that no surprise little ones come along soon.  This is especially gratifying if you realize that according to American Humane, one litter of animals can cost $200-$300 just to feed and vaccinate, which is generally mandatory if someone’s pet gives birth.  According to Wide Open Pets, both dogs and cats can have up to three litters a year.  Thats $600-$900 a year, versus a operation that, according to petfinder, costs $200 once on average without possible reductions owners can get from the group performing the surgery.

Rhode Island is the only state to make desexing mandatory.  Almost 35 other states also require it if someone adopts an animal from a pound, shelter or rescue, according to the AVMA.  Several cities, including Houston and Los Angeles have also passed laws making spaying and neutering mandatory.  In no state is spaying and neutering illegal, nor has any city made it illegal that I know of or could find reference to when researching.  Some people—stereotypically residents of the southern states—have cultural objections to spaying and neutering, generally for dogs that they wish to breed, like hounds.  In those cases, I think that even if owners want to breed a dog, and therefore leave their genitalia intact, owners should still keep their dogs from making puppies with other dogs, except for planned breeding purposes.  Owners should keep their dog on a metaphorical (and possibly literal) tight leash around other dogs, as they may behave more erratically than an altered dog.

In conclusion, I believe that to be a responsible pet owner, one should spay and neuter their animal, whether or not they have to, to help solve a nationwide problem.  If you wish to become involved in helping pets and their owners work through this process, contact your local shelter to ask how you can help.  Even if you do not wish to help with this (admittedly very adult) process, you can also help animals in your area in other ways, like fostering, volunteering, or simply just spreading the word about animals that need help.  We’ll need all hands on deck to solve the problems of animal overpopulation without killing more kittens in the process.  See you at the shelter!