February 25, 2025
Meeting a Growing and Essential Need
I’m writing this after an all-day marathon to sterilize homeless dogs and cats. In the end, our incredible team at the Ottawa Humane Society managed to spay and neuter 39 pets in need today!
This was no small effort and was a part of World Spay Day. At the OHS we celebrate World Spay Day the same way year after year — with a massive push to help break the cycle of homeless animals. When pets have unwanted litters, it often leads to suffering for kittens and puppies who have nowhere else to turn and no one to care for them.
I know it may seem unimaginable, but accidental litters happen and sometimes people don’t make decisions that are in a pet’s best interest. Just this month, four puppies were brought to us after they were found abandoned in a park.
February is Spay/Neuter Awareness Month, and we set a high bar to spay/neuter 200 pets. After today, we’re at 176 and we expect to reach our goal by the end of the week. Not only our own animals benefited — we sterilized dozens of animals for some of our local partners who do great work in our community.
Goals and celebrations aside, the importance of spaying/neutering our pets is something worth remembering year-round. This essential procedure is key to ending the tragic cycle of homeless pets in Ottawa. It also helps our pets live their best lives, preventing life-threatening illnesses like pyometra and addressing some common behaviour challenges.
Spay/neuter is a crucial service for our pets, as a pet that is spayed/neutered will usually live a longer, healthier life. Spaying/neutering your pet can even make your pet less likely to roam.
All cats, dogs and rabbits adopted from the OHS have already received this essential procedure and we offer low-cost operations for income-qualified cat owners in Ottawa — preventing even more homeless pets.
It takes the support of a community that cares, but animal homelessness is a problem we can fix.
Dr. Mary Thompson
OHS Veterinarian