Sunshine's Friends firmly believes that the most important health benefit you can give your cat or dog is to spay or neuter them. Without performing this relatively simple surgery, the population of strays and abandoned animals explodes and the animals begin to suffer from diseases and starvation.
In addition, shelters cannot keep up with the number of animals and must turn to euthanasia. Here's a video illustrating the rapidity with which cats multiply if not spay/neutered.
According to the American Humane Society, which seeks to keep track of the number of stray, feral or community cats, In 2014, there were:
Please Note: Accurate data from shelters and rescue groups is difficult to obtain because there is no central data reporting system for these institutions, and most states don’t require reporting. The HSUS is working with a wide variety of stakeholders to change this through Shelter Animals Count, an initiative formed to create and share a national database of sheltered animal statistics, providing facts and enabling insights that will save lives.
In the meantime, here are the best estimates of The Humane Society of the United States:
- Estimated number of brick-and-mortar animal shelters in the US: 3,500
- Estimated number of rescue groups and animal sanctuaries in North America: 10,000
- Number of cats and dogs entering shelters each year: 6-8 million (down from 13 million in 1973)
- Of the 3 million cats and dogs euthanized in shelters each year, approximately 2.4 million (80%) are healthy and treatable and could have been adopted into new homes
- Percentage of purebred dogs in shelters: 25%
- Number of cats and dogs adopted from shelters each year: 4 million
- Percentage of cats euthanized in shelters: 70%
- Percentage of total shelter intake comprised of cats: Approximately 50% (but in some regions 2/3 of shelter population is cats)
- Estimated amount spent by humane organizations annually: $2.5 billion (about $8 per capita)
- Estimated amount spent by animal control organizations annually: $800 million to $1 billion (about $4 per capita)
To counter the killing of healthy animals and to control the population, Sunshine's Friends has partnered with veterinary clinics in the Baltimore and Ann Arundel county areas to offer free or low/cost spaying and/or neutering of your animal. Please click a link to find out the specific cost of each veterinarian.