Keeping the Numbers in Check

All these gentle, friendly, furry friends deserve equal care, love, and affection from us. They are currently located in a shelter in Selangor that practises the 'no-kill' policy and they are doing their best to find them a forever home.

As more Malaysians become aware of the importance of neutering and spaying their pets, a good number of them are still hesitant to put their precious furkids under the knife. This is understandable because most of us will see surgery as a rather heavy and severe procedure, no matter if it is done on humans or animals. Over the stretch of these years, we can see an increasing number of veterinary clinics mushrooming in Malaysia and that is a great sign as they play a crucial role in helping animals as well as controlling the population. We no longer need to travel to another town to seek for medical help like we used to, for our furry friends in the times of need.

You might wonder, what's the difference between neutering and spaying? Neuter and spay are simply the terms used for male and female animals respectively. Many owners worry that their pets will be different after the surgery. Thankfully, this is a rather common procedure with high level of practice by the vets as they handle thousands of such surgery annually. Your furry companions may experience slight discomfort after the surgery until they are fully recovered a few days later. Pain management medication will usually be prescribed to help them cope better.

This group of puppies was just abandoned one week ago when this picture was taken. These affable companions at a caring shelter here in Selangor are all waiting for a loving family to take them home.

There is certainly a number of talks surrounding the procedure including behavioural issues and health benefits. Truth to be told, the strongest reason to neuter and spay your pets has to be population control. The overpopulation of strays and homeless animals should be managed to prevent the worse from happening. Most if not all shelters are usually overcrowded and more often than not, they run with less than enough resources on a daily basis. Animals that are too sick or fail to find a home after a period of time will be put to sleep. That is one of the reasons why spaying and neutering your pets will be able to contribute to the solutions of this problem as a high number of strays were results of abandonment. It is definitely the better alternative to control the population instead of culling or risk innocent beings being cruelly abused, poisoned, or killed by some individuals who take overpopulation issues into their own hands albeit inhumanely.

Basic necessities and cleanliness are taken care of but you can make a change and give them a quality of life that is even better by joining cumulative effort to tackle overpopulation problem and adopt instead of buying.

Many individuals, including myself, strongly believe that by starting to neuter and spay pets, we will be able to decrease, or at least control, the number of strays gradually and the population ultimately. Letting your pets undergo the procedure means a reduced number of unwanted litters abandoned to the streets or shelters, unless you are taking full responsibility over them. Millions of homeless animals or strays enter the shelter every year and less than half of them gets to escape the crowded shelter. This will help existing animals in the shelters as they will have a higher chance of finding a forever home with a loving family too. Getting to decrease the number of strays on the streets and shelters directly decreases the sufferings of surviving animals considering how they will get to enjoy more resources and not face scarcity.

It is certainly essential to educate the public, especially pet owners, on the benefits and importance of neutering and spaying. Should they choose for their pets not to undergo such procedure, then they have to take responsibility on the offspring of their pets and take care of them with equal love and care. Depending on your pets' condition, they may have different needs and it is always the best decision to consult your veterinarian first before proceeding with any procedure.