Skip to Main Content

Spay and Neuter




Communities spend millions of taxpayer dollars each year coping with problems that a failure to spay and neuter causes. The one-time cost of spaying or neutering is far lower than the expense involved in rounding up strays, feeding and housing abandoned animals, and euthanizing those for whom homes can’t be found.

Cities and counties all over the country are aggressively addressing the animal overpopulation crisis, requiring everyone who chooses not to spay or neuter to pay a hefty breeder’s fee. Areas with mandatory spay-and-neuter laws have reported a significant reduction in the number of animals who are taken to their facilities and subsequently euthanized.

Many communities have low-cost or free spay-and-neuter clinics that make it easy for everyone to do the right thing and have their animals sterilized. Call 1-800-248-SPAY to find your nearest low-cost spay-and-neuter clinic.

If you would like a spay-neuter ordinance in your community, please visit PETA’s Action Center for free information on how you can help pass animal-friendly legislation.

Spay-and-Neuter FAQs

Will my animal’s personality change after spaying or neutering?


Will spaying and neutering affect my animal’s weight?

No. Cats and dogs become overweight and inactive because their guardians feed them too much and exercise them too little, not because they are sterilized.

Why should I have my male cat or dog neutered?


Should I let my female animal have one litter before having her spayed?

It’s best to spay animals before they reach sexual maturity in order to reap the full health benefits. Spaying your female companion animal before her first heat cycle means she will have one-seventh the risk of developing mammary cancer. Spaying also eliminates female animals’ risk of diseases and cancers of the ovaries and uterus, which are often life-threatening and require expensive surgery and treatment.

How can I teach my children about the ‘miracle of birth’?

Allowing your animal to reproduce only teaches your children irresponsibility. Every year, 3 to 4 million animals are killed in U.S. animal shelters, most simply because of a lack of good homes. Bringing more animals into a world that is already short of homes means that animals in animal shelters will die. Numerous books and videos are available to help you teach your children about reproduction responsibly.

What if I can find homes for all my animal’s puppies or kittens?

Even if you manage to find loving, lifelong homes for all the puppies or kittens, that means that there will be that many fewer homes for puppies and kittens in animal shelters who desperately need to be adopted. And unless you ensure that every puppy or kitten you place is spayed or neutered before going to his or her new home, they can go on to produce litter after litter of offspring themselves. Just one female dog and her puppies can result in 67,000 dogs in six years, and one female cat and her kittens can lead to 370,000 cats being born in seven years.

Is sterilization safe?


Connect With PETA