by Richard Uhlhorn
Every year on the fourth Tuesday of February, World Spay Day is recognized in almost 70 countries in support of the positive aspects of spaying and neutering animals. In the United States alone there is an estimated 70 million stray cats and dogs. In six years, one female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies. In seven years, one female cat and her babies can have a staggering 370,000 kittens.
Somewhere around 6.7 million cats and dogs enter shelters in the United States every year. The sad statistic is that with inexpensive spaying and neutering programs, up to 16,000 potential pets are euthanized every day (every 1.5 seconds) because they don’t have a home.
For six years, Peri Gallucci has been a major advocate in North Central Washington as a Humane Policy Volunteer Advocate for HSUS (Humane Society of the United States), and every year, Gallucci brings a World Spay Day Proclamation to City Council in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of animals not so lucky to have a “Forever Home.”
Mayor Bob Goedde read the proclamation into the record at the Tuesday, February 8 City Council meeting wherein he read the entire proclamation and proclaimed February 22, 2022, to Chelan’s World Spay Day, and call upon the people of Chelan to observe the day by having their own pets spayed or neutered or by sponsoring the spaying or neutering of a pet in need.
PROCLAMATION:
WHEREAS, pets provide companionship to 67% of U.S. households which is approximately 85 million families; and
WHEREAS, 2.4 million healthy and adoptable cats and dogs are put down in animal shelters each year due to a lack of critical resources and public awareness; and
WHEREAS, nearly 90% of pets living in poverty, and 98% of community (feral and stray) cats are unaltered; and
WHEREAS spaying and neutering is especially vital as shelters across the country are being inundated with animals showing an increase of 100,000 more animals in shelters in January 2022 than in January 2021; and
WHEREAS, spaying and neutering has been shown to dramatically reduce the number of animals who are euthanized in animal shelters; and
WHEREAS, programs exist to assist with the cost of spaying or neutering pets living in poverty and community cats; and
WHEREAS, veterinarians, national and local animal protection organizations, and private citizens worked together to advocate the spaying and neutering of pets and community cats through “World Spay Day” in the United States and throughout the world in 2022; and
WHEREAS, veterinarians, national and local animal protection organizations, and private citizens have joined together again to advocate the spaying or neutering of pets and community cats on “World Spay Day 2022”:
NOW THEREFORE, I, Robert Goedde, Mayor of the City of Chelan, do hereby proclaim February 22 , 2022 to be in our City, “World Spay Day” and call upon the people of Chelan to observe the day by having their own pets spayed or neutered or by sponsoring the spaying or neutering of a pet in need.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereby set my hand and cause the seal of the City of Chelan to be affixed on this 8th day of February 22, 2022.
Taylor Sharp, executive director of the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society was on ZOOM at the Council meeting and told them that the Society performed 2,928 Spay/Neuter surgeries in 2021 which has cut down the number of animals that had to be euthanized.
The Wenatchee Humane Society has a special spay and neutering program in place. Visit their website at https://www.wenatcheehumane.org/ for more information.
“I forgot to give my example that the University of Florida did an 11 year study on TNR (Trap, Neuter and Return) and after four years, there were no more kittens born – it really shows how fixing the feral population reduces it,” Gallucci stated in a separate email.
The following website shares helpful information on feral and stray cats.
All Things Lake Chelan 