Utah Humane Society offers low-cost spay and neuter services

SOUTHERN UTAH (ABC4) — The Humane Society of Utah is working to provide low-cost spay and neuter services to the public.

Across the country, animal shelters are reporting that fewer pets are coming in already spayed or neutered. The Humane Society of Utah has also seen this and is reporting that numbers have dropped over the last five years, meaning more litters and an increased strain on shelters.

Guinnevere Shuster with Humane Society says, “It also means that it takes longer for these animals to move through the shelter system. The animals that come to us that have already been spayed and neutered, you know, they can go right up for adoption. They have a much shorter length of stay in the shelter, which also helps them from behaviorally declining in the shelter.”

According to a national report, only 22% of dogs and cats were already spayed or neutered when they arrived at a shelter. In comparison, in 2019, 30% were spayed or neutered.

In order to get neuter and spay numbers up, the Humane Society is expanding low-cost options, including with their last litter program.

““If you have a cat or dog, mama dog who has recently given birth, you can reach out to us and we will help set you up in getting that animal spayed or neutered for $100 and also surrendering the litter over to us,” Shuster said, “We will make sure that litter is all spayed and neutered before they’re put up for adoption. And then we will return that mother dog [or cat] back to you.”

In addition to controlling the population, spaying and neutering pets also provides health benefits and reduce potential strays.

Shuster says, “Often pets who are not neutered are going to look to escape. They might have some undesirable behaviors like marking, but there’s also health benefits. There’s cancers that are prevented.”

She also explained, “There’s something that they can have that’s called a truck, which can actually turn out to be pretty deadly and the easiest way to prevent that is to spay them.”

Utah Humane Society says it is best to neuter or spay their animals early, before they have a chance to reproduce.

“We really encourage people to look into getting your pet spayed or neutered, you know, before they’re even a year old, because before you know it, it can happen. And even if it’s not intentional, it can still happen,” Shuster concluded.