The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates there are between 6 – 8 million dogs and cats that enter shelters every year. Of those, about half are adopted and the remaining half is euthanized. It's heartbreaking, really to realize a warm blooded, cold-nosed, tail-wagging creature has to loose its life because their time ran out.
There are many courageous and dedicated rescue groups in this country that manage to save some of those who did nothing other than outlive their human companion or grew up and stopped being an adorable puppy any longer…
Among animal advocating groups the concept of spay and neuter has been widely accepted as an 'enlightened' way of dealing with animal over-population. To this end the Animal Welfare Association (AWA) in Voorhees, NJ has been providing low cost spay and neuter services to NJ and PA pets since 1975.
Over 9,000 animals have received the surgeries this year alone. That's a whole lot of future pets that won't be born folks! Do the math… the average dog can have 2 litters per year consisting of 6 – 10 pups. The average cat can produce 3 litters per year that produce 4 – 6 kittens. Let's see… that would be another 72,000 puppies and 67,500 kittens that weren’t born due to the efforts of AWA. Good job! There is no residency requirement – any one requesting spay or neuter of a pet can utilize AWA's services. They also travel to several shelters in northern NJ as well as Delaware and Pennsylvania to provide low cost spay and neuter.
To find out more about AWA's spay neuter efforts visit their website. You will see they also provide heartworm as well as flea and tick preventives at reduced rates for both dogs and cats.
AWA also has a mobile clinic van to travel into the city of Camden and surrounding areas for low cost vaccinations for pet owners in need of low cost basic veterinary services.
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