North Pima News

Requiring that all pets in an area be spayed or neutered is commonly offered as a remedy to shelter overpopulation - but did you know that mandatory spay/neuter can actually result in MORE pets coming into the shelter?

Because of this, mandatory spay/neuter is not supported by major animal welfare organizations like Best Friends Animal Society, the ASPCA, The Humane Society of the United States, and more. This may seem a little contradictory; on the surface, mandatory spay/neuter seems like a good thing. But read Best Friends' statement on the topic:

"Research has consistently found that the majority of pet owners want to get their pets sterilized. What the same research has found is that the lack of available low-cost or free spay and neuter services is the primary barrier for these owners (though certainly there are other interconnected factors such as transportation, limited capacity at sterilization clinics and the hours of available service).

Given what we know about the public’s desire to sterilize their pets, the end result of mandatory spay/neuter laws is often that they punish the most underserved and under resourced pet owners in a community. Removing pets from loving families because they are unable to access veterinary services is never the appropriate solution. What’s more, these laws can perversely increase the number of animals entering and dying in our shelters, as owned, loved pets are seized and impounded for noncompliance or because families can’t afford the fines levied against them."

We believe strongly in the importance of spay/neuter here at PACC as one of a multi-pronged approach to decreasing shelter intake and euthanasia; that's why Pima County invests half a million dollars every year to assist with spay/neuter in fixing community pets. That being said, we also know that there's no silver bullet to fixing pet overpopulation and that making spay/neuter mandatory serves to create a punitive measure that can result in more pets ending up in the shelter regardless.

Looking for access to spay/neuter services? Call our Pet Support team at 520-724-7222 for resources!

Original source can be found here.