For shelter workers.....

We have an Accidental Litter program. When we are approached by a person that has a litter of puppies we offer a free spay of the mother. It appears that most people breed their pet dog to make some extra cash. Then they realize it is not a money maker. For others it truly is an accident and they just don't know what to do. We accept the puppies and spay the mother for free, most people do take advantage of this.

One is excuse is that they don't want to take away their dogs "manhood". When people tell us that, we just try to go over how it doesn't change personality. Another excuse is they want a protective dog. Answer: an unneutered dog will roam while a neutered tends not too. A dog is not protective if they aren't there. No time...make time. We try to help people out with that. No money. We offer low cost spay/neuter clinic and trade for services. Trade for Service lets people work off the cost of their pets surgery. They don't want their pet to get fat and lazy. The surgery doesn't do that. You, as owner, need to realize that because they are not in heat so they are not roaming so you might need to reduce their food intake. There are so many excuses that people use. You have to take it on a case by case basis as what to say to people. What you say to one person might not work on someone else so you have to tell them in ways they understand. If money is a concern you can tell them since a neutered male usually doesn't tend to get out and end up in a shelter then you wouldn't be paying reclaim fees. Your answers have to be in a way so that person would understand. The important thing is that there wouldn't be so many homeless pets if people would SPAY AND NEUTER their pets. It would help euthansia rates in shelters, your pet would be healthier, there are many positive aspects of having them fixed!!!!!

I don't know about your state, you might want to check, but in our state it's the laws. People cannot adopt a dog or a cat from our shelter without having it spayed or neutered. In our shelter the cats are paid for by the shelter 100%. Dogs get a discount. They must return the pet to us on a certain day for their vet appt. next morning and then pick them up after the surgery. If they do not comply the adoption is void and we reclaim the anbimal.

In Jersey City, New Jersey the residents of the city always seem to say one of a few things: I cant fit it into my schedule, I don't want to see my animal suffer, let mother nature take its course etc... The answer we give people is always the same, if you loved your pets you would do it for them, no excuses. I have gone so far as to walk a couple through our cattery to show them how many people "couldn't" fix their pets and look where they wind up. I try and get to the soft side of people and ask them how they would feel if their own pet was there sititng in a cage all alone. Then I move to show them the kittens and no one wants to see a baby kitten in a cage and I tell them that some are with us for days, months and who knows maybe years. It usually does the trick, but not always.