Spay Day international success

INTERNATIONAL Spay Day has become a success in most areas that produced reports and this is good news for all dogs, cats and other animals. Communities in many countries have organised a Spay Day in their area in an effort to end pet overpopulation and protect the health of companion animals. Many of the university veterinary schools participate enthusiastically in these days, as it is a perfect environment for DVM students to learn more about the neutering process by observing the participating veterinarians.

Generally, the animals brought to the centres have a free check-up, any required vaccinations and microchip, and the neuter operation is greatly reduced in price or free to those low-income people who qualify.

At UC Davis Veterinary School 54 operations were done over two days. Spay Day volunteers included 150 veterinarians, staff members and veterinary students. Veterinarians performed the procedures, and student guardians escorted animals throughout the process. Clients brought their pets by appointment to the Gourley Clinical Teaching Center, the surgical laboratory where students learn basic clinical skills of anesthesia, surgery and case management during their DVM training. The UC Davis event is part of the national Spay Day project co-ordinated locally each year by the Sacramento Area Animal Coalition.

The Lake Martin Humane Society reports that enough money was raised to perform 16 spay surgeries, or more if they are neuters. The society assists seniors, disabled, military veterans, or those that have been adopted by a stray. Animals treated on this day were also checked for their vaccinations and whether they owned a collar with identification attached.

Millions of cats and dogs are needlessly euthanized each year. They may be street animals, or the offspring of cherished family pets, even purebreds. Maybe someone's cat or dog got out just that one time or maybe the litter was intentional, but efforts to find enough good homes failed. Spay-neuter is the only permanent, 100 percent effective method of birth control for dogs and cats and a proven way to reduce the vast numbers of animals who are born only to die prematurely and without a family who loves them. Learn more about why you should spay or neuter your pet.

The Bermuda Feline Assistance Bureau (BFAB) ran a newspaper ad in the Royal Gazette, urging people to spay-neuter their cats, and also ran a Public Service Announcement on two radio stations, running for the entire month of February. The broadcast reached tens of thousands of people and the Spay Day was most successful.

Sarnia and District Humane Society organized a gala called Paws for Love on Valentine's Day, with more than 100 animal lovers attending. Money raised was put towards the organization's spay-neuter fund. In addition, 78 animals were spayed and neutered during February.

Fundación Vidanimal in Colombia celebrated Spay Day International by spaying-neutering pets from a low-income area of Cali, called Aguacatal. Twenty-four dogs and cats were sterilized in just under four hours by Dr. Constanza Pedraza, her assistant Julia, and Dr. Viviana Moreno. More than 100 people were reached about the importance of sterilization. Fundación Vidanimal thanks their donor and Lic. Luz Catañeda, their volunteer for educational programs, for making this event possible.

The Esther Honey Foundation in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, recruited seven volunteers, including three vets, to visit the Cook Islands for Spay Day International events. They spayed-neutered 84 dogs and cats, and treated all for fleas and worms at no cost. They also distributed information to tourists and locals, and visited 20 classes, from preschool to high school, reaching more than 1000 people about the importance of spay-neuter. More than 6000 people were reached via the organization's website and through the local media. Finally, they raised almost $1000 for Esther Honey's EHF VET TREK® Rarotonga 2009 program and sterilization campaign.

Animals Lebanon had a radio campaign on MixFm, a popular radio station in Beirut, and an article in L'Orient Le Jour, promoting spay-neuter. This article, as well as the other advertising done, earned sponsorship for the organization's Trap-Neuter-Return voucher program to do an additional 13 dogs and 10 cats per month. The MixFM campaign also recruited volunteers, who are now assisting with the Trap-Neuter-Return program on a regular basis. In addition, Animals Lebanon was able to spay-neuter 71 animals through the orgaization's voucher program, with an additional 24 TNR vouchers sold or given away for people to use for homeless cats and dogs. More than 20,000 flyers about TNR were designed, printed, and distributed throughout Beirut.

In India HSI Animal Advocates caught, sterilised, vaccinated, hospitalised and released 109 street dogs. This work was undertaken by two veterinary surgeons and four animal nurse-technicians. HIP also conducted six surveys of the street dog population in four areas of Jaipur, three of which had not been surveyed for more than a year. The survey brought some good news: of the 348 dogs counted, 84 percent of females were spayed and 74 percent of the males were neutered. The total rabies vaccination coverage was 73 percent — above the recognised threshold vaccination coverage of 70 percent required to control rabies.

The above are just a tiny number of the mass of reports worldwide of participation in Spay Day International. It was a really wonderful response this year and to all the participating veterinarians and their helpers we offer a very large thank you, as we do to all the participating organisations, universities and groups who did a top job of organising the day. Great work people, and now it is time to start spreading the word for Spay Day International 2010.