As part of Spay and Neuter Awareness Month and in celebration of World Spay Day, we asked our veterinary teams their thoughts on these life-changing surgeries, and how important they are to improving animal welfare globally. Let's hear what they had to say...
Why are spay and neuter surgeries at the heart of our work worldwide?
"Spay/neuter is the best and most effective way that a vet can improve the welfare of a street dog. It’s key to controlling population turnover, and this is especially important among free-roaming dogs in rabies-endemic countries." – Dr Ilona, India
"At WVS, we follow the principle of the greatest good of the greatest number in everything that we do. Mass spay-neuter and mass anti-rabies vaccination is a way in which we make a huge impact on a large scale in the lives of so many animals – and on a daily basis at that!" – Dr Shruti, India
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"It helps improve animal welfare in the community by doing population control, and most importantly, the Rabies control." – Dr Santiparp, Thailand
"Spaying and neutering improves an animal’s quality of life and prolongs their life span."
"It can reduce fighting in male dogs, decrease the call of nature to roam for mating, and prevent unwanted litters of puppies and kittens which, without proper care, will face a challenging life. It’s positive action for both animals and people." – Dr Malisa, Thailand
"To reduce the consequences that come along with overpopulation of stray dogs." – Dr Anupat, Thailand
How much of a difference does spaying or neutering one animal really make?
"All welfare indices for individual animals improve post spay and neuter. Their body condition score gets better, they're less likely to get into territorial fights with other dogs in the area, and in general, they live a better and safer life." – Dr Shruti, India
"It is only a one-shot procedure, but lasts and benefits the dogs for their lifetime."
Train with us: Learn surgical skills and best welfare practices.
"A HUGE difference! Especially for females who will be able to utilise the food they eat for their own nutrition instead of using energy in pregnancies and lactation. Spaying a female and so stopping the hormonal cycle also helps to control other diseases like mange." – Dr Ilona, India
"It makes quite the difference for that dog. It could prevent disease like TVT, Pyometra and tumor." – Dr Anupat, Thailand
Tell us something you didn’t know about spaying and neutering before you joined WVS.
"Before I started working with WVS, I wasn't completely aware of the dynamics of dog population management and what a huge role good spay-neuter clinics play in the overall welfare of free-roaming animals all over." – Dr Shruti, India
"The technique that we use for locating the suspensory ligament and some suture patterns such as fishbone and intradermal pattern." – Dr Santiparp, Thailand
"The intradermal closing pattern." – Dr Anupat, Thailand
"I didn’t know about how to detach ligament when spaying and how to intradermal suture." – Dr Jindamat, Thailand
Train with us: Learn surgical skills and best welfare practices.
What’s something you wish more people knew about spaying and neutering?
"I wish people knew how straightforward it is to spay and neuter animals, and just how much better their life and welfare becomes as a result of it. I would also like to bust some myths. A common one is: a female needs to give birth at least once before being spayed. I think some awareness and education efforts will go a long way in busting common misconceptions like these from the public." – Dr Shruti, India
"Some of them worry that spaying and neutering will hurt their pets, I hope that they will know that spaying and neutering will give a better quality of life to their pets, and to their life as well." – Dr Malisa, Thailand
"I hope they will better understand that spaying and neutering will decrease stray dog populations and reduce their budget for taking care of these animals." – Dr Malisa, Thailand
"Birth control injection is very dangerous and should not be given to stray dogs any more. It causes pyometra and dystocia, if they don't give it at the right time. Hence, spay and neuter is the best choice for population control." – Dr Santiparp, Thailand
"Male and Female dogs can be sterilisation equally." – Dr Anupat, Thailand
"I wish community members were more concerned about neutering. Male dogs don’t get pregnant, but they're the cause of female dogs getting pregnant. So they should as well be castrated for birth control." – Dr Jindamat, Thailand
Tell us about when you were learning to spay and neuter.
"When I was learning to spay-neuter, I was particularly intrigued by how different each female spay could be and how it took a skilled surgeon to be able to operate different kinds of females in different physiological stages. WVS training made me confident in operating all kinds of dogs, within the two-week period of the course I had operated strikingly different types of females and become better each time." – Dr Shruti, India
Train with us: Learn surgical skills and best welfare practices.
What are the biggest challenges for spaying and neutering in the future?
"I think the biggest challenge is the lack of skilled veterinary surgeons all over the world who could perform high-quality spay-neuter. – Dr Shruti, India
"This is where WVS comes in with its game-changing surgical training course!"
Train with us: Learn surgical skills and best welfare practices.
"Education and raise awareness of people in the community to the idea of spay and neuter, as it is the most difficult but most important for planning population control." – Dr Santiparp, Thailand
"Communication with people to understand the benefit to both the animals and them." – Dr Jindamat, Thailand
This World Spay Day, and every day, you can help us in our life-changing mission. Click here to discover the many ways you can contribute to improving animal welfare, globally and sustainably.