Birth control
Education and animal population control programs
ANAA carries out a permanent sterilization campaign. Sterilizing your animal will be highly beneficial. Do not contribute to pets abandonment, avoid overpopulation… STERILIZE IT,It’s the best solution
Why is sterilization the best option?
In Madrid, as in all of Spain, a huge number of animals are abandoned by their owners every year. Traditionally, these animals have been picked up and put down by local town services, when these are available.
This systematic ‘putting them down’ method does not solve the abandonment issue, since it does not deal with the root of the problem. Due to the high reproductive capacity of these animals, and to the fact that owners let them breed without any control, the number of animals will always exceed that of potential responsible owners (those who would keep the animal in good conditions for its entire life). That means that animals being put down by local authorities are “replaced” very fast by newly abandoned ones.
Two measures must be applied if we want to break this dynamic: educate people and control population until the number of animals matches the number of responsible owners.
Asociación Nacional Amigos de los Animales (ANAA) carries out its “Pets Birth Control Campaign” with said objective in mind and wishes to overcome the following problems:
- The cost of the operation
- Ignorance regarding the procedure
- Fear of the operation itself
Among the different birth control methods available, both chemical control and isolation of the females during heat season require perseverance and attention from the owners. Moreover, the first method has negative side effects on the animal. Chirurgical sterilization, a procedure carried out under general anesthesia and from which they recover fully within a few days, represents the most effective and most beneficial option. It is said that sterilized animals are prone to put on weight, but that’s not true. Overweight may be caused by inadequate or excessive food, or by lack of exercise. If our pet starts putting on weight, its diet or its exercise habits must be controlled by a veterinarian and corrected.
It is said that sterilized animals are prone to put on weight, but that’s not true. Overweight may be caused by inadequate or excessive food, or by lack of exercise. If our pet starts putting on weight, its diet or its exercise habits must be controlled by a veterinarian and corrected.
Advantages of female sterilization
- No more heat seasons, they stop soiling the house and attracting males. The anxiety caused by the heat season disappears too, as well as the meowing and whining caused by it in female cats.
- There is no possibility of mating, and therefore, there are no unwanted puppies.
- No more psychological pregnancies, which some female cats suffer after heat season.
- It prevents uterine infections (pyometra) and ovarian cysts and diminishes the possibilities of suffering breasts tumors.
Advantages of male sterilization
- Sexual desire disappears, the animal will no longer want to mount other animals or humans, nor will he get frustrated or nervous when he detects a female in heat. He won’t be interested in wandering away, thus improving his quality of life.
- It lessens or eliminates aggressiveness towards other males and, especially in the case of cats, they stop urine-marking the house.
- It is good for their health because it prevents prostate infections and other illnesses).
- As the animal becomes infertile after the operation, there won’t be any new unwanted litters that would probably end up abandoned.