You Do the Math: World Spay Day

Reproduction facts about dogs and cats from the Humane Society of the United States:

• One un-spayed female dog and her un-spayed offspring can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs in six years.
• One un-spayed female cat and one un-neutered male cat and their offspring can result in 420,000 kittens in seven years.
• A single female cat can have 29 litters in 10 years.
• A male cat can sire as many as 2,500 kittens in a single year;  a male dog can sire almost as many puppies.

According to research data gathered from the American Humane Society and Pet Finder as of August 2012:

• Total number of US animal shelters:  5,000
• Number of companion animals that enter animal shelters annually:  6-8 million
• Average number of companion animals euthanized annually:  3.5 million
• Percent of dogs in animal shelters that are euthanized:  60%
• Percent of cats in animal shelters that are euthanized:  70%
• Percent of dogs that are returned to their owners:  15%
• Percent of cats that are returned to their owners:  2%
• Total number of pets that end up in a shelter that are spayed or neutered:  10%

You do the math.

Be part of the solution!  Spaying or neutering your pet ensures that they will not add to the millions of already homeless pets.  

Need more reasons to spay or neuter your pet?  Fetch the following articles from the Be the Change for Animals blog hop celebrating World Spay Day.