11/26/13 Spaying and Neutering as as Animal Suffering Prevention!
A call for citizens to help companion animals by castration
- November 26, 2013, Zagreb, Trg bana Jelacica: program of free and low-cost castrations, vet advice
Abandoned dogs and cats are often targets of abuse, poisoning and killing, and they also suffer from starvation and illness and due to bad weather and traffic. Considering that just one cat and her offspring can bring 420,000 kittens into the world within seven years, while just one bitch and her offspring can bring 67,000 puppies into the world within the same period, it is necessary to have legally prescribed breeding control for companion and street animals.
At the info stall, on Tuesday November 26, 2013 at 12 noon on Trg bana Jelacica in Zagreb, the work of the veterinary association Didona will be presented as well as a program on low-cost and free castrations that is being conducted by Animal Friends in collaboration with the City Office for Agriculture and Forestry of the City of Zagreb and the Zagreb Shelter for Abandoned Animals.
At the event there will be vets from the Shelter for Abandoned Animals of the City of Zagreb, Didona association vets and vets that are helping with the low-cast and free castrations project. They will offer a free short examination of animals and give advice with regards to castration to the citizens who bring a dog or a cat.
Hundreds of animals received help through low-cost and free castrations. The program is conducted exclusively for abandoned animals, animals in the rehoming process and free-roaming cats. Citizens can apply for this spaying/neutering program by completing an application form on the web page, www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr.
Vets will be answering questions and giving advice including when it is best to spay/neuter your before their first oestrus along with information about the recovery time after surgery, among other topics.
At the Shelter for Abandoned Animals in Dumovec, which serves as an example to other Croatian towns on how to run a shelter well, spayed and neutered free-roaming cats are returned to their feeding places after recovering from castration.
Vet association Didona has been making efforts for years to help animals with their expertise, i.e. conduct castrations aiming to stop unwanted puppies and kittens being born and to reduce the number of abandoned animals.
Dogs and cats do not live in the wild, but in coexistence with people, and their large numbers and uncontrolled breeding are connected with great suffering of unwanted and abandoned animals. Spaying/neutering stops the uncontrolled population growth of companion animals, the unnecessary and violent ending of their lives and it stops the breeding of unwanted kittens and puppies who are difficult to rehome. Psychological suffering due to inability to satisfy their natural instincts is also stopped this way, as well as various diseases. The operation is simple, it is routine and animals can carry out everything they need within just a few hours after the surgery.
It is necessary to implement the castration program in all parts of Croatia – and in doing so implement the Animal Protection Act - as well as educate citizens about responsible animal care and how to control companion animal breeding.
Veterinarians Tatjana Zajec (Dumovec) and Suncica Ana Veldic (Veterinary ambulance Nera) will take part in this action.