Spay/Neuter Awareness Month

As part of Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, we are wanting to spread the word about just how important spay/neuter is within our community and beyond. Spay/neuter may seem like old news to some, but it is still very relevant today. Spay/neuter not only has health benefits for individual pets, but is also good for the community and the environment. 

Spaying and neutering:

• is a responsible and humane way to ensure that pet populations remain healthy and well-cared for; 
• is an effective approach to help reduce the number of stray and homeless animals already putting a major strain on animal shelters and rescues;
• can improve your pet’s health, reducing the risk of certain cancers and behavioral problems;
• can prevent undesirable behaviors such as roaming, marking territory, and aggression.

The sad reality of what we do for rescue puppies is that the number of puppies we are able to help is only a small fraction of the number that need help! SOSARL believes access to affordable S/N services is a critical component in the equation to helping each companion pet achieve his full potential. We are always eager to support our partners’ participation in region-specific community programs to help address the other factors contributing to homeless animals, including low-cost, high-quality and high-volume spay and neuter services to companion animals.

For the last seven years, SOSARL has sponsored a voucher program administered by Thousand Hills Veterinary Services, the primary veterinarian of SOS’s Arkansas rescue partner, Wiley’s Road Home. This program was created to offset the costs of neuter surgeries for privately owned animals, with the intent to incentivize and increase the number of private pet owners completing S/N on their animals. Over the years, this program has neutered more than 500 animals, preventing tens of thousands of unwanted pets.

In Rhode Island, there is a local spay/neuter clinic run through Potter League for dogs and cats. This clinic has performed over 60,000 surgeries since opening its doors in 2010. Learn more about it HERE.