We've done a good job letting people know WHY to have their companion animals spayed/neutered. But we haven't done as well letting them know WHEN. More than half of all pet sterilizations occur after the cat or dog has reached reproductive maturity. This results in hundreds of thousands of unplanned litters every year. In most cases, the cats and dogs that gave birth are eventually sterilized. One pet population analyst estimated that more than 80% of all kittens and puppies are born of mothers who will be sterilized after they have given birth at least once.

This delay leads to tragedy. It is also an opportunity.

Our Goal:

The first phase of the Spay Before Five Months (Spay B4V) Campaign will focus on cats. Spay delay leads to more litters of kittens than puppies and far more cats lose their lives in shelters than dogs. Our goal is to reduce by 20% the number of people who delay having their cat spayed until after she has had a litter. This will result in one and a half million fewer cats being put to death in our shelters.