World Spay Day, celebrated this year on February 26, 2019, is an international day of action to sterilize pets, including homeless cats and dogs. Spaying and neutering pets helps save lives by reducing the homeless pet population and euthanization of healthy animals.  Started by the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL), it is now a campaign of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Humane Society International (HSI) and Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA).

Benefits of Spaying/Neutering

It’s a great day for animal rescue organizations, and really all of us, to spread the word on the importance of spaying and neutering pets.  Not only is this effort critical to reducing the homeless pet population, spaying and neutering our own pets as well as animals up for adoption has many other benefits, including:

  • May help minimize or eliminate behavioral problems, including roaming, aggression, barking and howling (cats), spraying and marking, and mounting and other dominance-related behaviors.
  • Health benefits include minimizing or eliminating the risk of certain cancers, including prostrate and testicular cancer in males and breast cancer in females.  It also eliminates the risk of pyometra in female pets, which is a life threatening infection of the uterus.
  • In terms of animal safety, neutered/spayed pets are less likely to roam outside or engage in fights with other animals.  According to a USA Today article, unneutered dogs are more than twice as likely to get hit by cars or bitten by another animal, and unneutered cats are four times as likely to be hit by a car and 3 times as likely to be bit by another animal.
Make a Difference for Pets Worldwide

How can we help the cause on World Spay Day?

  • Spread the word on social media using the #WorldSpayDay hashtag.  Click here to download some attention getting graphics (sized for Facebook and Twitter) containing statistics on the impact of spaying and neutering.
  • If you are an organization that facilitates spaying and neutering, use World Spay Day to remind people of your services and ask for donations—this day is all about the importance of the work you are doing!
  • Raise awareness of the importance of spaying and neutering by creating special posters or handouts to have available for people visiting your organization, and include this information in your newsletters as well.