It’s spring, and that means shelters and rescues will be overflowing with puppies and kittens. People are on the side of the road offering puppies and kittens. Craigslist and newspapers are full of ads for free puppies and kittens. And then there’s the feral kittens and stray puppies. *sigh*
Today’s repeat blog talks about realities of what faces many of those puppies and kittens.
Some Cold Hard Facts About the “Miracle of Birth”
If you’re looking for spay/neuter programs, here are a few resources:
The North Shore Animal League’s SpayUSA website can help you locate clinics in the US.
I did some digging around online but wasn’t able to find many resources outside the US. If you’re in Canada, Greece, Italy, or the UK, check out NeuterSpay.org for some resources.
Dogpaddling Through Life 
We have a huge problem where we live of people breeding puppies to sell so that they can buy drugs!
That’s scary and very sad.
When I lived in California, there were strays everywhere! I’m sure there still are. Unfortunately, the local CL’s been full of pets recently. There’s so many people wanting puppies but rehomes them once they get older. It’s a sad truth.
Without insurance, spay costs can be pretty high but I think shelters do it for $25.
Here in TN we have shelters that are, by law, supposed to spay/neuter an animal before adopting it out, but that has not always taken place in some of them. So I’m not always hip on dealing with shelters.
Puppy and kitten mills, pet shops and unlicensed breeders need to go 😦
The only way to cut off the supply is to end the demand. People who obtain animals from these places need to stop!
You are right Rumpy. Keep up the good work!
Thank you my friend!
We agree…keep up the good work…these things are just awful and something must be done to stop all of this useless breeding!!
A combination of regulation and ending the demand is a good start. People who don’t buy from breeders will put breeders out of business.
Great reminder Rumpy. We have so many strays here in the Republic of Georgia and very little resources to tackle the problem 😦
Yes, you often talk of the many dogs you run into on your walks. 😦
Spring is always a bad time here in New Zealand. My daughter’s best friend is a vet nurse and they are always inundated with kittens left on their door. I have had a few of them here when they were too young to actually be away from Mum and needed bottle feeding but all the vets and nurses were overloaded. It is such an unnecessary situation.
Yes it is. And what on earth will happen to all those babies?
That’s the scary part.
Oh no….how terrible to hear that those puppies and kittens might be a bait for fighter dogs. Very scary…..I wanna spread this post to lots lots of people(including vets) to get down the number of poor pups and kitties.
In my neighborhood, there are a few vets who don’t accept feral kittens for spay/neuter programs or anything of them. Once my mom was looking for a vet who gives a neuter operation for a feral cat, some vets turned her down even though she told she’d pay for it!!! Can you believe it???
Yes, it’s very sad Kevin, but ferals need to be neutered too. 😦
I just recently watched a couple of docus on people who breed dogs in the UK and the Kennel Club’s egregious agreement with designer dogs. It made me sick to the stomach. Some of these breeders don’t care about animals at all. They are only for show. Made me want to go out immediately and adopt a pooch from the rescue centre!!!
Sounds similar to what happens here in the horse industry. Breed! Breed! Breed! and then breed some more to find the perfect show horse? And what happens to the rest of the horses? Well, that’s why they’re voting in our state legislature as to whether or not to open a horse slaughter plant here.
Rumpy, your posts have not been appearing on my WordPress Reader, even though I was following. I’ve ‘unfollowed’ and followed again to see if that fixes it.
The same thing has been happening to me Bassa!
i wish it was law, that every pet owner had to spay or neuter. so many poor animals laid to rest because of people’s stupidity
I wish we didn’t HAVE to pass a law because most people were convinced that spay/neuter is the right way to go.
I am always so sorry to hear about thingys like this.
It’s hard to talk about, but we have to keep reminding people of this harsh reality, and then remind them that it doesn’t HAVE to be this way.
How very sad! 😦
And yet it’s true.
Great resources. My daughter was just telling me in Monterey CA that the low cost clinic is still $80 for a neuter! Sometimes $80 is a lot of money!
Tell her to keep looking! Surely there’s something less than that!
Reblogged this on delia1979.
I can only reiterate what Bob Barker always closed his program with ‘remember to spay and neuter your pets’. A neighbor of ours didn’t but fortunately we have one of the miracles of birth. btw we neutered our little gift.
Hooray for you!
Poor puppies and kittens- born into a world of such uncertainty. Only the lucky ones survive. So sad! I try not to think about it too intensely because they are all so beautiful and precious.
p.s. I wanted to thank you Rumpy for being such a force for good in the world. You are making a real impact. Kudos!
I sure hope so Russell- my animal friends are counting on me!
You are so right ..Rumpy you da man ..er da Dog!! xx
woo woo wooooooo!!!!
Rumpy…this is such an excellent blog entry. You need to run it every spring to remind people about the realities of too many unwanted animals and to be responsible about spaying and neutering their pets. Pets live longer and healthier lives when they don’t need to worry about having litters, too.
Anyone who thinks it’ll be good for their children to witness The Miracle of Birth…or for their pet to have “just one litter”…needs also to go to their local shelter and take a tour of the euthanasia room to see the end result for so many of the kittens and puppies. Maybe it would make them think twice!!
Here in Sacramento, California, there are all kinds of inexpensive options for people to get their pets spayed and neutered. There are clinics where low-income families can have it done for as little as $5 or $10…or in some cases even free! So nobody has an excuse!
I think the dirty little secret is that animals are big business. But we’re gonna have to change the hearts and minds of these fence-sitters before we can go after the rest.
Hey Rumpy, Jet here. Perfect timing for this repost… thank you.
A timely message. Hope people listen up and take the proper action.
Puppies and kitties are cute and sweet but people need to be responsible.. Thank you for addressing this area Rumpy…
So sad. =[
I used to foster for the humane society and my first foster kitten was a little one who had been attacked by some critter. He was abandoned in a box on my mother’s doorstep with an obviously shattered hind leg. When I phoned to surrender him, they told me they were full and he would be euthanized unless a foster could be found.
I became his foster.
He had his leg amputated and found a wonderful home.
I fostered many an abandonded cat and kitten during my time volunteering and I will definately do it again when I once again have the space.
Spay and neuter is all I can say. Spay and neuter!
This is a wonderful service, SpayUSA! Thank you for making it so easy to get information about low-cost participating vets near me!