Forty-eight animals were spayed or neutered during the UCAN clinic's first week of operation and another 74 the following week. It was a significant first step on the path to eventually solving the pet overpopulation problem in Greater Cincinnati...
To put these numbers in perspective, an unspayed female cat can have three litters a year, averaging four cats per litter. Her female offspring can have three litters a year. And so on and so on and so on, until by the end of one year there are 45 cats where once there was one.
It's a similar story for dogs, with up to two litters a year and an average litter of eight. They too can have 16 puppies a year and if half these puppies are female, at the end of a year there are 81 dogs where once there was one.
In its first two weeks of operation, 122 animals visited the UCAN clinic including 39 female cats and 43 female dogs. When you consider the potential offspring from just these animals, the numbers are staggering. In its first two weeks alone, UCAN's clinic was responsible for preventing the births of up to 5,000 unwanted animals in the next year, many of which would have lived shortened lives because there were no homes for them.
It's a start all right -- a very good start for all of us.
This is fantastic! UCAN is actually doing what everybody else has only managed to talk about. Thank you for your leadership in this important area, and congratulations to everyone involved!
Posted by: Dog Lady | May 07, 2007 at 11:24 AM