02/28/23 World Spay Day
Animal Friends Croatia wrote to local communities to mark today's day by enforcing the Law
- Prescribe mandatory castration, finance castrations, encourage citizens to castrate animals
Today on World Spay Day Animal Friends Croatia invites everyone to castrate the animals they care for considering that the unwanted breeding of cats and dogs is the main cause of animal abandonment: „Abandoned animals end up in crowded shelters or suffer abandoned from illness, hunger, thirst, poisoned, drowned, wounded, run over… Throughout seven years a single female dog and her offspring can give birth to as many as 67,000 puppies, and one single cat and her offspring can give birth to as many as 420,000 kittens. 420,000 kittens. This causes suffering of the animals and creates enormous pressure on local communities, shelters and animal protection associations.”
Animal Friends Croatia wrote to local government units pointing out that this date is important for cities and municipalities because unwanted cats and dogs, that are abandoned by caretakers, fall under the burden and care of local communities. The Association asked them to note the day by promoting on social media, education through posters in city and municipal premises, distributing leaflets about caretakers’ legal obligations with the utility invoices and, as best means, to actually finance castration.
„Taking into consideration that castration is the most favorable and most efficient way for prevention of having unwanted cats and dogs, local communities should actively work on implementation of the Animal Protection Law, carry out castration programs for free-living cats and finance castrations of caretakers (owners) cats and dogs. All cities and municipalities should follow the example of Samobor, Kutina, Vrbovec, Varaždin, Ernestinovo, Popovača, Požega, Lepoglava, Knin, Čazma, Tribunje and many other local governing units who have also in past years (co)-financed costs of the caretakers’ animal castration. This way their uncontrolled reproductions and cities and municipalities save as they do not allocate large amounts of money for the cost of their care”, Animal Friends Croatia state.
They remind local communities that also all abandoned animals must be neutered, while for caretakers’ cats and dogs, they can prescribe mandatory permanent sterilization, with recorded exemptions, which half of cities and municipalities have already done. Furthermore, they can also finance the castration of known caretakers’ cats and dogs. This is especially important when we know that in Croatia there are thousands of abandoned animals and the shelters are at full capacity. Without castration, their constant increase cannot be stopped. The castration also helps animals’ both physical and mental health and facilitates coexistence with people.
„It is very cruel to throw pregnant animals onto the street. They cannot take care of themselves, while associations and volunteers do not know what to do with such a large number of animals. Neutering efficiently affects resolving the cause of the problem and prevents the suffering and death of animals. Local communities that finance castration of caretakers’ cats and dogs have fewer abandoned animals and, with that, significant budget savings”, Dr. med. vet. Svjetlana Prodanović says, the coordinator of the project Animal Protection Network of the association Animal Friends Croatia.
The marking of World Spay Day started in 1995 with the initiative of Hollywood actress Doris Day and her organization Doris Day Animal League. Since then every year on the last Tuesday in February, more than 70 countries in the World, mark the importance of castrating male and female cats and dogs for the purpose of reducing the number of abandoned animals, preventing the spreading of many diseases and, in general, for improving their health.
„We appeal to all not to abandon the animals, to adopt dogs and cats instead of buying them and to castrate their pets, as well as free-living cats and to contribute to the well-being of both animals and people with responsible behavior”, Dr. med. vet. Prodanović and Animal Friends Croatia say.
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