Sterilize your pet for purposes of population control. Millions of unwanted pets, primarily youngsters, are killed each year in shelters all over the country because of overpopulation.

Although the reasons for so many unwanted animals are very complex, the one of the reasons is also issue of the age at which animal surgical sterilization is done and the myths surrounding this.

A great number of people, including some veterinarians, continue to believe that cats and dogs must reach sexual maturity before sterilization can safely be done, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. This put many young animals at risk of becoming pregnant or causing ‘accidental’ pregnancies before the ‘proper’ age for sterilization was reached.

If we accept the fact that animal sterilization is currently a necessary component of population control, then the advantages of doing sterilization early are numerous. There is also less stress on a younger animal during the surgery and a quicker recovery after the surgery, which minimizes the amount of suffering.

Reducing animal overpopulation not only prevents unnecessary killing, it also is fiscally responsible because it saves millions of tax dollars that are spent each year to provide animal control services, which include housing and killing unwanted animals.