Spay & Neuter Voucher Programs

POPCO - Pet Overpopulation Coalition:
San Bernardino: 888-767-2550
Riverside: 951-786-7767 

 ACTORS & OTHERS: 818-755-6045 (9am-5pm)

SAVE A PET: 951-689-2047 (Riverside)

What is Spay/Neuter?

• Neutering is a general term used to describe the castration of a male animal. Spaying is a general term used to describe the ovariohysterectomy of a female animal (removal of the ovaries and the uterus). However, neutering is often used in reference to both genders. The surgical procedure, performed by a veterinarian, renders the animal incapable of reproducing.

Why Should I?

• Sterilizing your pet is good for their health, good for you and good for your community.
• Studies show that most litters of puppies and kittens are unintentional. While they may be cute, they are also a lot of work and expense to raise and place in homes.
• Most municipalities offer a significant discount on your required annual pet license if your animal is sterilized. Over the lifetime of your pet this can more than pay for the cost of surgery.
• Research shows that sexually intact dogs are 2.6 times more likely to bite people than sterilized dogs.

• It helps to reduce companion animal overpopulation. Most countries have a surplus of companion animals and are forced to euthanize or disregard their great suffering. The surplus is in the millions in the United States.  Dogs are 15 times as prolific as humans. They do not need our help to expand their numbers; they need our help to reduce their numbers until there are good homes for them all.

 

• Sterilization of your dog will increase his/her chance of a longer and healthier life. Altering your canine friend will increase his life an average of 1 to 3 years. Altered animals have a very low to no risk of mammary gland tumors/cancer, prostate cancer, perianal tumors, pyometria, and uterine, ovarian and testicular cancers.

 

• Sterilizing your dog makes him/her a better pet, reducing his/her urge to roam and decreasing the risk of contracting diseases or getting hurt as they roam. Surveys indicate that as many as 85% of dogs hit by cars are unaltered. 

  

• Spaying or neutering your pet may save you licensing fees.

 

Additional Benefits:

•   Your community will also benefit. Unwanted animals are becoming a very real concern in many places. Stray animals can easily become a public nuisance, soiling parks and streets, ruining shrubbery, frightening children and elderly people, creating noise and other disturbances, causing automobile accidents, and sometimes even killing livestock or other pets.
  - The American Veterinary Medical Association
  
  

• • The capture, impoundment and eventual destruction of unwanted animals costs taxpayers and private humanitarian agencies over a billion dollars each year. As a potential source of rabies and other less serious diseases, they can be a public health hazard.
    - The American Veterinary Medical Association