Since kitties shouldn’t eat candy hearts and some flowers can be toxic, let’s look at another holiday in February that you should celebrate with your feline friend instead: World Spay Day. While it may not sound as exciting as showering your pet with valentines, World Spay Day is something to celebrate as it encompasses creating a better life for kitties in your community and around the world.
What Is World Spay Day?
Originally known as Spay Day USA, this event made its debut in 1995 under the creation of Doris Day and the Doris Day Animal League. It is held on the last Tuesday of February each year. The idea of this project was to bring awareness to the number of unwanted pets that are euthanized every year due to overcrowding of animal shelters and issues with feral cats in communities. Spay Day USA was also meant to promote the spaying and neutering pets to help keep the pet population in check by preventing unwanted litters.
In 2006, the Doris Day Animal League was merged with the Humane Society of the United States and so Spay Day USA became known as World Spay Day to include other countries. Since its initiation, the program has helped to decrease the number of animals euthanized in shelters from 17 million to about one million annually.
The Doris Day Animal Foundation has granted around $760,000 to the Humane Society of the United States to aid in spaying and neutering animals in need during World Spay Day, helping animals in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
What Should World Spay Day Mean to You?
As a cat parent, World Spay Day should first and foremost remind you get your kitties spayed or neutered, if you haven’t already. The benefits of sterilizing your pets goes far beyond preventing unwanted litters and unwanted pets. There are also the matters of reducing roaming, spraying, fighting, and certain types of cancer, mainly testicular and mammary. It can also make a kitty more friendly and affectionate, and let’s not forget that spaying also means no more cats in heat! (If you’ve been through one of these episodes, you know what I mean!) The benefits of spaying and neutering aren’t restricted to domestic cats alone, feral cats also gain value from sterilization. Let’s face it, being a feral cat is a hard rap, made harder by caring for a litter of kittens or by overpopulation and competition on the streets.
Volunteering
World Spay Day to you can extend further than your furry family. Chances are your veterinary clinic, and others in the area, are planning something for World Spay Day. Whether it be discounts on spaying and neutering procedures or a feral cat Trap, Neuter, and Release program, you can help! If nothing other than to get the word out, these types of projects take a village to run successfully. See where you can lend a hand to a paw in need and donate a bit of your time or money to the cause.
Education
Another way to get in the World Spay Day corner is to promote spaying and neutering all year long. It doesn’t take much, but educating others on why pets should be spayed or neutered goes a long way. As a veterinarian I’m still surprised at how many clients come into the clinic with no idea that spaying and neutering is for more than just padding a vet’s pocketbook. They either hadn’t realized or didn’t understand that sterilization can mean a better life for their kitty, themselves, and other cats out there in the community.
This February, after the chocolates are gone and the flowers are wilted, turn your attention to World Spay Day on the 25th. Chances are the kitties in your life have benefited from being spayed or neutered. With your help, many other felines can share in these benefits, not to mention the millions of animals that will be spared thanks to a decrease in the unwanted pet population brought about by caring people and World Spay Day.
