Why We STRONGLY Support
Spay and Neuter
It is our policy that every one of our animals must be spayed or neutered before it leaves our control, and Happy Jack Cats, Inc., releases no animals to households that have existing animals that have not been spayed or neutered.
HJC maintains these policies in order to help reduce the numbers of healthy animals that are being euthanized.
Contact SpayUSA to find a facility in your area to spay or neuter your pet.
MORE INFO ON Spay and Neuter
There are thousands of cats crowding humane organizations around the U.S. In kitten season, every shelter in the country is overflowing with kittens, and kittens, unfortunately, are the highest population of animals euthanized. Sure they’re adorable, and for that reason can be easier to find homes for than adult cats, but THERE JUST AREN'T ENOUGH HOMES TO GO AROUND!
Happy Jack Cats will never euthanize healthy animals to make room for new arrivals, but until the animals we have on hand are adopted, we cannot take in more. It breaks our hearts to have to turn these babies away, but there is no choice when there are literally thousands of them.
There are many reasons to spay and neuter your pets but to our way of thinking there can be no greater reason than putting a stop to the slaughter and waste of healthy animals that have no chance of finding a home because there isn't one. Spaying and neutering help fight pet overpopulation by reducing the number of unwanted litters but if you need more reasons for spaying and neutering, there are some big ones.
1. Health benefits: If you want your female kitten to live a long and healthy life, spay her before her first heat. Spaying helps prevent uterine infections and breast cancer, which are usually fatal. Neutering your male cat prevents testicular cancer. No balls. No cancer.
2. Community concerns: Do your community a favor by spaying or neutering your pet. Because feral cat colonies pose problems for communities everywhere, spaying and neutering can be effective in reducing the number of feral animals. Humans can be vicious toward even managed colonies because of ignorance and cruelty. The animals simply aren’t safe out there even in a TNR situation.
3. Your unspayed female: Unspayed female cats usually go into heat four to five days every three weeks during breeding season. Your sweet girl will try to attract a mate by yowling and urinating more frequently—many times in the wrong places. If she gets out, you’re going to have a litter of unwanted kittens.
4. Your unaltered male fights: Mating is a serious business for an unaltered male cat, and he will fight bloody battles over a female. If he can, an unaltered tom will escape his house to go in search of a female in heat, and when his path crosses the paths of other toms on the same mission, he may get into some serious fights. It’s a lot less expensive to neuter Romeo than pay veterinary bills for the treatment of wounds, and abscesses.
5. Your unaltered male stinks: Intact male cats will mark their territories by spraying strong-smelling urine in your house and yard, e.g. the front door, the landscaping, the walls, the furniture, the bed, clean laundry; You get the picture. To put it crudely, he STINKS, and so will your house and furniture. Neutered young, Tom will be more engaged with the humans in his life. After all, you adopted him to be a family pet, not a Lothario. Do him and yourself a favor; Get him neutered.
6. The miracle of birth: For everybody’s sake, give up the idea that your Fluffy should have a litter of kittens so that your children—or you—can experience the miracle of birth. Check out YouTube.
Hopefully, you are convinced that spay and neuter is the way to go for yourself, your animal, and your community.
SNIP: A local, low-cost option for spay/neuter.
