San Diego Humane Society is marking World Spay Day on Feb. 22 by encouraging the community to ensure their pets are spayed or neutered. Spaying/neutering is essential to reducing the number of unplanned pets who enter shelters, and the procedure can help animals live longer by offering health benefits such as protection from testicular cancer, mammary cancer, enlarged prostate glands and uterine cancer. Studies also show that altered pets often exhibit less unwanted behavior, such as urine marking, roaming and aggression.
San Diego Humane Society cares for more than 40,000 companion animals annually. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the nonprofit organization performed 13,034 spay/neuter surgeries for pets in the shelter as well as those owned by members of the public.
“We are passionate about World Spay Day, because we know spaying and neutering pets is the single most important thing we can do to prevent overpopulation,” said San Diego Humane Society chief medical officer Zarah Hedge, DVM. “By spaying and neutering animals in our care, we are preventing unwanted pregnancies and ensuring that we stay at zero euthanasia of healthy and treatable shelter animals.”
Pet owners are encouraged to consult their veterinarian about spaying or neutering their pets. San Diego Humane Society offers low-cost spay and neuter services to qualified individuals in the San Diego region, including those receiving government assistance and active members of the military. To learn more, visit sdhumane.org/services/spay-and-neuter.
