The
Hancock County Humane Society
Why Spay or Neuter?
The support of
the community in controlling the pet population by
spaying and neutering is the ONLY real solution
to this problem.
An example of the
magnitude of this tragedy is that one of our local shelters
on the
Mississippi Gulf Coast reported this horrible statistic for
the year 2000:
(And this is for only 3 months - multiply it by 4 for just
one year!)
| Number
of Animals Taken In: |
3,608 |
| Number of
those Adopted or Reclaimed: |
664 |
| Number Euthanized: |
2,664 |
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The
remaining 280 animals died while in the shelter |
Difficult
as it may be to read, please note that less than 25%
of the animals that enter the shelter are either claimed
or adopted. The remainder die senselessly and are disgarded
as trash. |
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Great News!
In 2005, the HSSM shelter received 13,229 animals. They have seen a 14% reduction in the number of animals entering the shelter since 2003. They opened their spay neuter clinic in 1995 and began to address the pet overpopulation problem by making sure all shelter animals were neutered prior to going to their new adopted homes. In 2000, the HSSM offered spay/neuter to the public, making these surgeries affordable and easily accessible to low income individuals of South Mississippi. Last year their veterinarian performed 4,225 spay/neuter surgeries. They are now thoroughly committed to ending the use of euthanasia as a means to control pet overpopulation.
After the storm (Katrina), HSSM created alliances with shelters and organizations all over the country to reactivate and expand their transport program, Love Train. The purpose of Love Train is to relocate adoptable animals from our community to other areas where successful spay/neuter laws have eliminated pet overpopulation. These areas often experience a shortage of quality, highly adoptable animals…animals that we have a surplus of. Between October 1, 2005 and February 28, 2006 they had transported 1,227 adoptable animals that would have been euthanized without this program. Even though the shelter has one of the highest adoption rates per capita in the U.S. there just aren’t enough homes for all the wonderful animals that go to them. They are pleased that, since Hurricane Katrina, all adoptable animals have been successfully re-homed! The euthanasia rate has dropped from 62% to 25% of intake. The only animals that are euthanized at HSSM now are those who are aggressive and not stable enough to adopt into a home or for major medical conditions.
Visit the Humane Society of South Mississippi Website Here
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It
is imperative that there be facilities where homeless
animals receive a second chance of finding a loving
home!
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Pet
Overpopulation Estimates
For the Year 2000
• Number of cats and dogs entering shelters each
year: 8 to 10 million
• Number of cats and dogs euthanized by shelters
each year: 4 to 5 million
• Number of cats and dogs adopted from shelters
each year: 3 to 5 million
• Number of Animal Shelters in the United States:
Between 4 and 6 thousand
• Percentage of dogs in shelters who are purebred:
25 percent
• Average number of litters a fertile cat can
produce in one year: 3
• Average number of animals in an average feline
litter: 4 to 6
• In seven years, one female cat and her offspring
can theoretically produce 420,000 cats
• Average number of litters a fertile dog can
produce in one year: 2
• Average number of animals in an average canine
litter: 6 to 10
• In six years, one female dog and her offspring
can theoretically produce 67,000 dogs.
Source: Humane Society of the United States
• There are approximately 68,000,000 owned dogs
in the U.S.
• Four in ten (or 40,000,000) households own at
least one dog
• Twenty percent of owned dogs were adopted from
an animal shelter
• Seven out of ten owned dogs were spayed or neutered
• There are approximately 73,000,000 owned cats
in the U.S.
• Three in ten (or 34,700,000) households own
at least one cat
• Twenty percent of owned cats were adopted from
an animal shelter
• Nine in ten (89%) owned cats are mixed breeds
• Eight in ten owned cats are spayed or neutered
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~
Please Read These Very Special Stories ~ |
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Links
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Copying or downloading of pictures of
Adoptive Animals from this website:
Users may copy or download (for personal Use only),
photographs and information pertaining to animals available
for adoption.
Reproduction or transmission of these files is prohibited
without express permission.
Website
designed and created by:
Denise Rednour at
Denise's Dreams
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