Third National Spay/Neuter Conference Presentations

Welcome to The Road Map Conference – Esther Mechler, Director, SPAY/USA

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We want to thank our generous sponsors, who ensured that you paid only half of what this conference actually cost.  Our Platinum sponsor, The PETCO Foundation – a staunch supporter of spay/neuter projects of all sizes nationwide.  Our Gold sponsors: The Scott Charitable Trust, Maddie’s Fund and the Humane Society of the U.S.  Our Silver sponsors: Petsmart Charities, the ASPCA, The Bosack and Kruger Foundation, The American Humane Association, Austin Cotton, PAWS Chicago, and the Greg Biffle Foundation.

 

We have come here today from several countries and many states for three reasons:

  1. To celebrate substantial progress in reducing the numbers of  surplus companion animals.  At our first national SPAY/USA conference in 1993, we were still near 12 million surplus cats and dogs. Today that number is 4 million.  That drop of 75%  is cause for real celebration.
  2. To examine how we made this progress.  That is the meaning of the name of this conference.  How did we get here – and how do we move on to our goal as swiftly as possible? 
  3. To develop plans to use the appropriate resources and models in our own areas – to look at the big picture and se t out to work smarter, going forward. To get to our common goal.

 

What have we learned?

  • We know that High Volume spay clinics work in the large urban areas and their surroundings.  These clinics can do 20,000 affordable, quality surgeries a year, working with rescue groups, shelters and animal control groups in a 100 mile radius.  These clinics are self-sustaining and the numbers of surplus animals within their radius does go down.  In the first of these clinics in Asheville, the local shelter euthanasia rate is down by 80%   Quita Mazzina a nd Dr. Karla Brestle are here this weekend to tell you how it is done.  And forty clinics have already opened around the country – making this the equivalent of the Superhighway on our map!
  • We know that special delivery systems – mobile clinics, in-clinic clinics and spay blitzes – are going to be essential delivery systems here in the Midwest and Great Plains, regions of wide open spaces.  And Ruth Steinberger, Elaine Adair, and Gegory Castle are here to tell you how it is done!
  • We know that WHEN kittens are altered is absolutely critical – wait until the traditional six months, and you may well see a “first” litter.  That is where most of our doomed shelter cats are coming from – that first unexpected, unwelcome, but adorable “first litter.”  We need to spay by five months.  Hence the Five Saves Lives Campaign which is just getting started, and which has the potential to prevent20most of the deaths at shelters.  In many places 90% of cats who enter shelters are still put down.
  • We know that the feral cat issue must be addressed.  It was ignored for far too long; that is how their numbers ballooned so.  Bryan Kortis is here to help clarify how this is best done.  We need to partner with public health departments wherever possible to bring in new resources.  We will be at the 136th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in two weeks to hold the first panel ever on TNR – to introduce public health officials in a positive manner to alternative ways to reduce numbers of stray and feral cats.
  • By now most shelters and rescue groups do Neuter Before Adoption to ensure that they are not adding to the problem.   But shelters need to do more – to become the center for advocacy --   as well as the service providers --  for spay/neuter of companion animals whose guardians cannot afford  the surgery.
  • And we know that every state needs a strong spay/neuter referral program to look for weak spots – black holes – in service delivery, and to fill them in order to ensure that spaying and  neutering for cats and dogs is truly accessible and affordable in their community.  These state referral programs are the bridge between supply and demand.  There are close to twenty of these now, and eight state leaders will be here on two panels to share with all of you how they started, what they are doing, and how they are doing it.  They are key players in getting the word out, helping individuals, and creating a strong infrastructure of programs and clinics within their own state.

 

When I started SPAY/USA nearly twenty years ago, I did so because there was a vacuum.  The focus was solely on adoptions, and as you all know, we cannot adopt our way out of overpopulation of cats and dogs.  The underlying problem requires a surgical rather than a band-aid approach.

We have been at it now for quite a while, and it isn’t rocket science.  Unlike most of the world’s problems today, it is quite simple and straightforward. It is solvable, and some regions of the country are very close to having no more surplus of dogs.  Given the numbers just a few years ago, this is amazing.

Cats20remain wildly prolific, however, so we need to work on partnerships and coalitions to reduce their numbers.  The Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs is working to find a nonsurgical solution; meanwhile we must redouble our efforts to address the surplus cat problem through spaying -- either at eight weeks -- or at latest by twenty weeks or five months.  This effort alone will be a major campaign, one we must all join together to carry forward.  If we can do that, we will reach our goal in our lifetime.

Over the next two days you will hear from twenty speakers who have been part of the solution to the pet overpopulation problem. Enjoy their presentations, ask questions, form new friendships and alliances, and remain connected so that we can all enjoy the sweet feeling of reaching our common destination.

SPAY/USA is very grateful to our sponsors for helping us to continue our work: