Each day 10,000 humans are born in the U.S. - and each day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born. As long as these birth rates exist, there will never be enough homes for all the animals. As a result, every year 4 to 6 million animals are euthanized because there are no homes for them.
Safe Haven Cat Rescue does not and never will adopt out an unfixed cat or kitten. I've actually had people argue and plead with me to let them take home an unfixed cat and the answer is always no...don't even ask it's not going to happen. We believe in juvenile spaying and neutering. This means that we get our kittens spayed/neutered when they are 2 months old and weigh 2 pounds which is how much they have to weigh and how old they have to be for the clinic that we take them to.Early age spaying/neutering article from the Winn Feline Foundation
The main clinic that we take the majority of the Safe Haven cats to is the HSAC Humane Society Of Atlantic County in Absecon New Jersey.
We have taken hundreds of cats to them and they are FANTASTIC. The facility is clean, the staff and volunteers are incredibly nice and knowledgeable and they do an all around incredible job with their low cost spay/neuter clinic.
When you bring your animal to the clinic, you can also choose to get several vaccinations such as Rabies and Distemper, they also test for Feline Aids and Leukemia, Heartworm, Lyme Disease etc. You can get your cat or dog spayed/neutered and vaccinated for under $100! Anyone who has been to the Veterinarians lately knows what a great deal that is. In my opinion there is no excuse to not have your pets spayed/neutered. They have a form that you can download online and send in to them for spaying/neutering HSAC Spay/Neuter Form
Simply fill it out and follow the directions on the sheet.
There are MANY resources online to find low/cost spay and neuter clinics in your area.
Here are a few that I refer people out of my area to:
East Coast New Jersey Spay Clinic
732-929-9449
SPAY USA - Awesome organization
I have never been here but I called them once to get some information when I had a problem. They were extremely nice and helpful on the phone.
Monmouth County SPCA Spay/Neuter Clinic
260 Wall Street
Eatontown, NJ 07724
Phone: (732) 542-3125
NJPets.org a great resource for NJ residents.
Lovethatcat.comA comprehensive listing of low cost spay/neuter programs and clinics State by State and nationwide.
Animal Welfare Association
Voorhees NJ
856-424-2288
Low cost s/n for ferals and pets.
People for Animals
Hillside, NJ
908-964-6887
I don't want to get all preachy...but...one of the programs that I have issues with is the State of NJ spay/neuter fund(the one that the I'm animal friendly licence plates supports) State Spay.
I am 100% all for ANY low cost spay and neuter programs HOWEVER when people go to some shelters(especially county run ones). If they adopt an unfixed animal, they are told to go to a participating Veterinarian and pay $10 to get the animal fixed and then bring them the receipt and you get re-imbursed. Sounds Great right?! What no one tells the new adopter is that it can take you weeks or months to get an appointment. Meanwhile little kitten is growing up into pretty kitty and going into heat and hanging around under lampposts saying "Hello Sailor"! You now have to worry about kitty or puppy getting out and becoming an unwed mother.
Since this program is State funded..the money only comes in I believe it's quarterly and the money also runs out VERY FAST so that's another reason for several month waits for appointments. I just shudder when I think of all the people who adopted a new dog or cat from a shelter or a rescue and were told to go on State Spay...only to have the animal go into heat and get pregnant before they could get an appointment.
I firmly believe that ALL animals should be spayed/neutered before adoption. If that's too unrealistic for State run shelters than how about even just spaying ALL females before they can be adopted. We get MANY phone calls from people who were told "oh just go on State Spay" when they adopted their new puppy or kitten from a shelter only to have the above mentioned scenario play out. Plus I read somewhere that less than 50% of adopters actually follow through with getting their new kitty or doggy spayed/neutered. I also have zero patience for rescues that adopt out unfixed animals. We are a small rescue but I'm going to make darn sure that we are not part of the problem by adopting out unfixed animals.Another great web site with Juvenile Spay/neutering information. This web site also answers some common questions about Juvenile Spaying/Neutering.
This article says it better than I can
here is another good article.
This is the program I wish was better but I am VERY glad we have ANYTHING in NJ.
New Jersey Dept of Health & Senior Services
Pet Overpopulation Control Fund
PO Box 360
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone: (609) 292-7837
Spay/neuter surgery costs about $10 each for pets adopted through non-profit animal adoption services, government and municipal pounds and animal shelters, etc. Call for more information
Some statistics show that for every dog and cat in the USA to have a home, every person in the country would need to own 5 animals. That would mean a family of 5 would own 35 DOGS/CATS. THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HOMES!
Is your veterinarian opposed to early age spaying/neutering? You can order a video tape for them from Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights and the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine about early age spaying and neutering
If your veterinarian has misgivings about early age spay/neuter, arm him/her with the knowledge from the many articles and studies available on this vital procedure. It is neither new, nor extreme. It is now well researched and no one familiar with the significant work published can conclude otherwise than it is safe and doable. Keep in mind that you are the customer: Ask for the service. You no longer need to play roulette with your young pet’s first estrous (heat).
Some things you may not know:
Cats can start mating as early as 6 months
Even indoor-only house cats often find ways to get outdoors when the sexual urge hits them. Whether they disappear for good (due to panic, accidents, or enemies) or they return home, kittens are the result.
An unaltered male cat can father hundreds of kittens a year.
Statistically speaking, even if a person finds good homes for a litter of kittens, some of the kittens will grow up and produce litters of kittens.
Spaying a female before her first heat protects her from risks of uterine, ovarian, and mammary cancers.
Spay/NeuterInformation
Spaying (ovario-hysterectomy) is the surgical removal of the reproductive organs (ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes) of the female animal. Neutering (orchectomy or castration) is the surgical removal of the reproductive glands (testes) of the male animal. The outer is left, only the testes are removed. Appearance depends upon the dog's age at the time of the surgery. Females and males should be spayed or neutered by 6 months of age.
Female dogs and cats can be spayed when in heat or pregnant. This can usually be done up until a few days before delivery. These surgeries can take longer, and can therefore cost more. Spaying before having a first litter or heat cycle is usually a simpler procedure. The heat cycle for dogs is once or twice a year starting as early as 6 months of age. Duration is 3 weeks. Heat cycles in cats start as early as 6 months and occur every 3-4 weeks during spring through early fall. The gestation period for both dogs and cats is 63 days. Female cats can become pregnant again as soon as 10 days after giving birth (while still nursing the first litter).
The simple fact is that spaying and neutering greatly increases
the lifespan of your pet and increases quality of life as well!
This is a photo I took in 2003 of 12 kittens that we
took from one home. The SAME NIGHT we took these
kittens 2 pregnant females in that house had 10 more kittens! We
took those in as well and spayed/neutered EVERYONE.
These kittens(above)were skinny, covered in fleas and all
of them had the worst cases of Ear Mites I have ever seen.
It was pitiful. Safe Haven is a tiny network of foster homes.
We were unprepared for this...and yet we couldn’t leave these
kittens to suffer....and reproduce. We ended up taking 23 kittens from that one home. We also talked them into letting us take a 3 legged kitten that they were originally going to keep(happily Tripod got adopted quickly by a loving new home). If all the kittens had stayed there would have been 50 cats in one small apartment. The family meant well but got overwhelmed and the cats reproduced unchecked. It took less than 2 years for this to happen(and they had given away previous litters of kittens so there were actually MANY more cats that had been born in that house)
Spaying and neutering isn't just for house cats. It also applies to feral cats and yes even to that stray you see around your neighborhood.
Safe Haven Cat Rescue spends Thousands of dollars every year just on spay/neuter surgeries. Please consider donating to our Spay/neuter fund to help us keep helping the cats.
If you have any questions please feel free to email me
