Too many animals, too few homes – if this problem worries you, you can now be a part of the solution. This weekend, Humane Society International (one of the world’s largest animal welfare organisations) and Let’s Live Together (a Bangalore-based NGO) are joining forces on an animal birth control project.
The project provides free spay-neuter surgeries for homeless cats and dogs, and low-cost spay-neuter at a nominal fee of Rs 500 for your pet cat or dog. Spaying or neutering (commonly known as ABC, which is short for Animal Birth Control) is a simple procedure that is performed on cats and dogs, both male and female, to prevent them from reproducing and adding to the growing population of unwanted animals. In an environment where thousands of animals are struggling for survival on the street or waiting out their entire lifetimes in animal shelter, spay-neuter is a positive step we can take to stop this cycle.
Apart from the obvious benefit of population control, spay-neuter is also great for your pet’s health. Spaying a female dog prevents her from getting pregnant, and prevents breast and uterine cancer. Neutering your male dog protects him from testicular cancer, reduces aggression. Further, spay-neuter ensures that you will not have to fend off animals in heat when you are taking them on walks, and you won’t have to worry about your male dog bolting out of the house in search of a mate and going missing when he is in heat.
“You don’t want to add to the population! Spay-neuter should be done, both from the owner’s point of view and the pet’s perspective”, says Harini Srinivasan who took a veterinarian’s advice and got her female dog spayed at last year’s spay-neuter camp. “It was very well-organised”, she says of the arrangements made by Let’s Live Together.
“The clinic was spotless, and it was done professionallywith precise instructions on what to do before and after the procedure. The volunteers were helpful, and they handled the dogs with confidence and kindness.”
Says doting pet-owner Sesha Sai whose male dog Ditto was neutered at last year’s camp – “We did this to protect our dog from diseases, and the volunteers answered questions patiently. After the surgery, we saw a lot of improvement…his aggression came down. We tell everyone to spay and neuter”. Sesha Sai’s daughters had adopted Ditto when he was a homeless pup rescued by Let’s Live Together, and believe that dogs do not deserve to be born homeless.
Register your pet (or any homeless cat or dog that you feed) for the spay-neuter event. Call 9945048733, 7353585508 for homeless dogs (any breed), 9945048733, 9845881365 for pets and community dogs and cats (any breed). The event will take place between March 14 and 16 (March 14 at Devaiyapark, near Malleshwaram) for pet animals and on March 15 and 16 opp Srirampuram police station (area behind Mantri Mall) for community animals. Pups must be aged three months or above, and kittens must be aged four months and above, to be eligible for this procedure.
