Human Interference is one of the prime causes amongst others, due to the following reasons:

If a stray cat gives birth to kittens in a residential or commercial building, the humans displace the kittens from the mother by leaving them in fish markets or beaches. Similarly, this is done for newborn puppies or puppies depending on their mother for milk.

Although in a fish market the kitten might get to eat, it is usually to small to eat by itself. If it does, often the kitten would die due to trauma caused by separating her from her mother, she being totally helpless and in a completely new area thus would have to deal with the local cats and often might even be killed by any tom(male) cat.

Fish markets being wet and rather unclean, these kittens very often die sad deaths as a result of eye,  and/or respiratory infections. If they try eating all that fish as a kitten, gastric disease and severe diarrhea are biggest reasons for the kitten to die.

Newborn kittens are dumped in garbage accumulation areas or sometimes killed by putting into boiling water.

One must also remember that kittens and puppies till the age of 3 to 4 months are unable to regulate their own body temperature and depend solely on their mother to develop their immunity for adult life !Thus, it is not only in-humane, but extremely cruel to separate any young one from their mother.

Too many little ones and people resort to poisoning the young ones along with the mother, why allow this, when a litter can be prevented from being born.

Puppies on the other hand not necessarily end up into fish markets but find their place on a very busy street such that any human can knock them down. Live Newborn puppies are thrown in the garbage collection areas and still many roam the lanes and bylanes and within some months are all dead as a result of accidents, starvation and disease.  Many puppies are picked up whilst their mother is fending for food for them, and they are thrown at the long stretch of beaches. Does anyone give a thought they would freeze to death as they are unable to regulate their body temperature, they do not get any food at the beach and could be killed by sea currents and resident dogs there. Being strays so many of these lovely beautiful creatures never find homes and the few who adopt them, are too few to give all a home – both the adult dog or the adult cat.

Thus, the only humane solution, a solution followed globally is “Sterilization of Animals – this is for all the animals who live on the streets as well as for pets, to keep them healthier.  It could even be an abandoned pedigreed pet, or an animal which has been lost and there is no owner to take him back.

To prevent birth of unwanted litters,  Animal Birth Control is a safest and most humane alternative. In the writings which follow, please do take a look at the Reproduction Cycle of a Cat ( a “feral”or commonly called “stray” cat)  The same applies to the Reproduction Cycle of a Dog.

This will show the need and necessity of sterilizing animals to maintain limited and healthy populations.

An unspayed female cat and her mate can produce more than 11,60000 in her lifetime. The gestation period for a female cat or dog is about 60 days.

The survival rate of kittens although very low, they often die by getting crushed under vehicles, due to malnutrition and infections as the mother does not have enough food in her to feed the kittens.

Kittens enter the gas pipe or the bonnet of cars and not knowing the dangers many times get stuck in the engines and are unable to come out. Sometimes they get suffocated in the gas pipe and at times get killed by getting caught in the fan belt of the vehicle.

A female dog produces almost the same litters like the cat, in her lifetime, and puppies often have a similar fate of being killed due to accidents and infections and victims of human cruelty.

To prevent all of this “PLEASE NEUTER AND SPAY YOUR PET OR IF YOU CARE FOR STRAYS PLEASE ENSURE YOU GET ALL OF THEM STERILIZED BEFORE SHE COMES ON HER FIRST OESTRUS CYCLE OR HER FIRST HEAT” IF YOU MISS THAT, PLEASE GET THEM SPAYED /NEUTERED AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.  PLEASE REMEMBER THIS SURGERY SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN SEEING THE OVERALL HEALTH OF THE ANIMAL UNDER YOUR CARE AND UNDER A VETERINARIAN’S ADVICE.  PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER YOUR ANIMAL BEFORE THE AGE OF 8 TO 9 YEARS. THE BEST AGE TO SPAY /NEUTER YOUR ANIMAL IS ANYWHERE FROM 7 TO 8 MONTHS UPTO 7 YEARS .

YOU COULD SPAY YOUR CAT OR DOG AT AN AGE OF 8 MONTHS ONWARDS.

PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR VETERINARIAN AND DO NOT LET UNWANTED LITTERS BE BORN. IT IS BETTER TO ADOPT THE LITTERS WHICH EXIST RATHER THAN ALLOW FRESH LITTERS TO BE BORN.

The advantages of “Spaying” and “Neutering” are as follows :

Spaying is the Surgical Removal of the Reproductive organs of the Female Cat or Dog

Neutering is the Surgical Removal of the Testicles of the Male Cat or Dog

1. Spaying a female cat or dog, eliminates the risk of  Pyometra. Pyometra is where the Uterus gets accumulated with Pus and has to be then removed. If this happens, the chances of the animal to survive are negligible unless an emergency surgery is undertaken by an experienced veterinarian. It also eliminates the risk of Uterine and Ovarian Cancer and  reduces the risk of breast cancer in female cats and dogs.
2. Spaying creates a healthy cat who can look after herself better, does not get malnourished and exhausted in bearing litters time after time.  Spaying significantly improves her Quality of Life, and Neutering significantly improves the Male Dog or Male Cat’s Quality of Life.  
3. Spaying also reduces the risk of Venereal Granuloma which is a Cancer of the Cervix in a Female Dog.
4. A cat can have upto 4 litters a year each of anywhere between 3 to 6 kittens. A dog can have upto 4 litters a year each with 3 to 7 puppies each time.
5. Spaying and neutering helps improve the longevity and quality of the life of the animal.
6. Spaying creates calmer and more affectionate animals.
7. Neutering of Males reduces territorial aggression between strays  in their respective species and produces more loving animals.  Unwanted litters are prevented.  
8. Neutering markedly reduces and in some cases eliminates the tom cat from “urine spraying” across the house or its territory. If neutered at an earlier age between 8 months to 1 year the aggression that may develop in a male dog or cat is markedly reduced.  They tend to wander less and fight much less.  Thus, there is a lesser chance of dog to dog or cat to cat aggression and thus less bites.
9. Neutered animals are more healthier and remain close to their territory.
10. Aggressive Behaviour being curbed as a result of Neutering , your home pet dog or cat would be more loving and calm and much healthy.
11. The risk of testicular cancer, prostrate cancer, are eliminated and chances of Venereal Granuloma of the male organ is markedly reduced.

The belief of neutered animals becoming “fat” and “lazy” is a Myth and most animals are quite content and don’t wander or get into fights with other strays.  This creates a calmer and more affectionate and approachable animal.

There are too many animals who are homeless, who receive no food , water and medication when ill and most certainly no love!  As an animal lover, would you like to see any animal suffer?

As a Community animal person or a pet owner, you owe it to the health of the animal to get her spayed or get him neutered.

Please do call your local NGO for sterilizing strays and please take a little extra effort to ensure animals under your care are sterilized.

You will save many helpless and unwanted lives, from being born, and at the sametime, will maintain healthy adult populations.

However, I must let you know, if you are sterilizing stray cats and dogs please and please do return the animal to exactly where you picked it from.  Please remember when you pick up an animal or ask an ambulance to pick up the animal you are lifting it from its known environment and sending it somewhere for an operation for few days about a week atleast. The animal is stressed and when its time to release the animal must come back to the very same place it belonged as, if it is displaced elsewhere, the local resident animals in that area will in all probability kill it. Besides, the entire area would be new and the animal having undergone such a major surgery would be subjected to undue and extreme stress in having to deal with a new environment, finding and making a place for itself in that area and finding food and starting life all over again if it manages to survive the wrath of the local cats and dogs there.

Thus, please chose a humane option, please ensure the animal comes back to exactly the same area it belongs!

For additional information on Neutering, kindly refer to :

www.alleycat.org
www.hsus.org/ace/11823
www.spayusa.org