Happy Neuter Year!

The beginning of a new year is time for thinking ahead. The unfettered fertility of male animals is a direct cause of the some 45,000 cats and dogs euthanized each year in Maryland at a cost of millions of dollars.
    So if your pet is part of the problem, the time is right to get the problem fixed. This month, Rude Ranch’s Spay Spa & Neuter Nook, in Davidsonville, is offering 150 Happy Neuter Year sterilizations at the affordable price of $20.
    “Neutering male pets is a simple surgery that reduces unwanted behaviors, like roaming, fighting and urine-marking territories,” says Katherine Evans, president of Rude Ranch Animal Rescue. “It also guarantees your dog or cat never fathers a litter of puppies or kittens.”
    Neutering is safe for puppies and kittens as young as eight weeks old, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
     The operations are subsidized by PetSmart Charities’ Happy Neuter Year campaign, which provides more than $713,624 to clinics to fund affordable, high-quality spay and neuter surgeries for 16,585 male dogs and cats across the nation during January.
    If your pet is female, Calvert Well Pet Clinic in Huntingtown is the place to turn for very low-cost spaying.
    “Because the girls get pregnant, to cut down on overpopulation, you spay,” says Clinic president Jean Radeackar. The Clinic still has $6,000 from a grant from the Snyder Foundation for Animals in Baltimore, which  reduces the fee to under $100 for spaying cats or dogs (up to 65 pounds).
    Both clinics serve both Anne Arundel and Calvert county residents.
Spay Spa & Neuter Nook: 443-607-6496; www.SpaySpa.org.
Calvert Well Pet Clinic: 443-295-7873; www.calvertwpc.org.