World Spay Day: Spaying and Neutering Pets on Reservations

World Spay Day is recognized on the last Tuesday of February to raise awareness around the importance of affordable and accessible spay and neuter programs. While the day for 2020 has recently come and gone, neutering pets maintains its importance year-round.  

World Spay Day was originally created in 1995 by the Doris Day Animal League – a national animal advocacy group in the U.S. Today, it’s recognized by roughly 70 countries around the globe and shines a light on the accessibility of life-saving spay and neuter programs. For some pet owners, a basic need such as spaying and neutering their pets can be a huge financial burden, and some may be unaware of the importance of this procedure for their pets.

Reservation Animal Rescue (RAR), a program of PWNA, provides animal welfare services to our reservation partners. They receive support in various capacities, such as foster kits with supplies to assist during rescue, rehabilitation and placement of animals, small grants to help with shelter repairs, or grants to support local or mobile spay and neuter clinics as part of our “Pet Promise.”

RAR’s Pet Promise aims to increase accessibility by supporting more spay and neuter clinics on the reservations, which is critical to controlling the number of stray dogs and cats roaming the reservations. In the Navajo Nation alone, it’s estimated there can be upward of 6,000 stray dogs and cats at any given time. Spaying/neutering reduces an animal’s urge to roam, making pets less likely to contract a disease, fight with other animals, be injured or wander into traffic. Clinics supported by Pet Promise also provide vaccinations for dogs and cats and preventive medicine to help address fleas and ticks, worms and more.

If you are interested in helping us reduce the number of stray reservation animals and increase access to spay and neuter services, consider making a donation to Reservation Animal Rescue or visit our RAR website for more information on how you can help improve quality of life for reservation animals, which are also known to us as the four-leggeds.