Celebrating World Spay Day and National Change a Pet’s Life Day!
We had two special holidays this week in the cat rescue community!
January 23rd was World Spay Day and today, January 24th, is National Change a Pet’s Life Day.
To us, there is no surprise that these two holidays are celebrated so close together! (On a side note, in other parts of the world, World Spay Day is the last Tuesday of February.)
But no matter when they are celebrated, together these holidays represent the full circle of wellness for our companion animals as well as the community cats and stray dogs.
Both initiatives strive to advance awareness of the importance to spay and neuter your pets for many reasons, starting with the health of the animal as well as to reduce the amount of abandoned and stray animals in our shelters today.
World Spay Day
Steady, consistent spaying and neutering is the only proven and sustainable way to reduce the overpopulation in this country’s animal shelters and on the streets of our cities. It saves lives in the end as, sadly, many of the animals in shelters today will be euthanized as there is just not enough room to house them all.
No-kill shelters and cat cafes with adoptable cats are on the rise, but not fast enough to meet the needs of all the animals out there that are in desperate need of forever homes.
That’s why TNR is so important as it directly targets the cats on the streets by trapping, neutering and releasing the feral cats and identifying which cats and kittens are friendly and can be up for adoption.
The good news, mom says, is that more and more she reads about “low-cost spay days” at vet offices or non-profits like People for Animals here in NJ who provide low-costs all the time. This helps out everyone from pet owners to the trappers, rescue groups and shelters. Some municipalities are finally getting on board by funding TNR for the community cats to reduce the street cat population in their town directly!
National Change a Pet’s Life Day
National Change a Pet’s Life Day brings awareness about those animals in need in our shelters and reminds everyone to consider adopting a pet from their local shelter or rescue group.
Many families say they want a kitten, but please consider the adult cats and seniors and those with special needs. These are often the last cats to be adopted but yet are the most loving and appreciative to have been adopted.
And in lieu of adopting, that are other ways you can help change a pet’s life, shelters and rescues have many needs!
A Few Ways You Can Help
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They need more hands like volunteers and fosters to help with everything from housing a cat until it heals from an injury, or housing a mom and her still nursing kittens.
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Volunteer to help socialize the young cats and dogs so that they are more adoptable.
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Help feed and clean cages.
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Sponsorships like sponsoring a pet until it is adopted for as low as $25-30 a month or you can sponsor a spay/neuter/vaccinate package for a specific pet. Check with your local group to see what is possible.
Check with your local shelter, cat café or rescue group for details on how you can help Change a Pet’s Life!