Welcome to February, the month of love, the month of romance, but most importantly, National Spay/Neuter Month.Unfortunately, in a recent survey commissioned by PetSmart Charities, those of us in this field of animal rescue received disappointing news regarding spay/neuter awareness and practice in this country.

 

Despite our hero, Bob Barker's tireless encouragement, the study also found that nearly half of people who have acquired unaltered pets in the last year haven't fixed them. As a result, more unwanted pets are being born into the world. Owners reported that more than half of the litters born to their own dogs and cats were unintentional. 
Other interesting findings from the study are that people earning $55,000 or more per year are more likely to adopt from shelters, and southerners and the under-35 set are the least likely to sterilize their pets.

 

What do these figures tell us? We cannot rest; there is too much work yet to be done. There are too many lives to be saved.

In keeping with our mission to take action to prevent pet overpopulation, Happy Tales Humane has launched the Love Fixes Everything low cost spay/neuter initiative to help families defray the sometimes prohibitive costs of getting those important surgeries for their pets. By supporting our two funding events this month, those donations will help us continue to save lives by cutting down on the number of unwanted pets being born in the first place. Thank you to our friends, Helen Brailey Newman and her company, Genuine Fake, and Whole Foods in Cool Springs. Proceeds from both events will help us fund this very important program. In addition, thank you to Happy reTales, Pet Supply Store & More, for monthly contributions to LFE. As of December 2009, we have subsidized funding for 198 surgeries!