In celebration of International Spay Day, The Philippine Animal Welfare Society offered FREE SPAY DAY at the Paws Animal Rehabilitation Center (PARC) clinic on February 12, 2010.
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Spay Day is The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International’s annual event to inspire people to save animals’ lives by spaying or neutering pets and feral cats.
International Spay Day officially takes place on the last Tuesday of February—but events run all through the month! The 16th annual Spay Day was on Feb. 23, 2010.
For The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), the Spay Day was very successful as there were 71 animals spayed and neutered.
Four veterinarians – Dr. Wilford Almoro (shelter veterinarian), Dr. Nielsen Donato, Dr. Aris Hapatinga and Dr. Maripi Diaz volunteered and offered their services for free.
People queued and waited for the whole day – even late into the night- just to have their animals neutered for free.
Volunteers who assisted the veterinarians in restraining animals, carrying animals to and from the surgery room, agreed that the hardest task fell on the shoulders of those who had to entertain the ‘waiting’ public and answer their gazillion questions on pet care.
Many ‘clients’ were “first-timers” in terms of spaying-neutering their pets and were very fearful that the procedure would not be safe. The procedure had to be patiently explained and people needed assurance that everything being done was fair as routine as giving anti-rabies vaccinations in many advanced countries.
All in all, it was a fruitful day for PAWS.
As a result of SPAY DAY, we know that people who will see the benefits of the surgery would soon come back to have their other animals spayed— even if they have to avail of low-cost spay-neuter rates in the future.
We really wanted to hold “SPAY DAY” – a day of free spaying – on a more regular basis (i.e. quarterly) so that we can help more poor pet owners keep their pets and not end up ‘breeding’ their pets.
SPAY DAY ended at PARC at exactly 12 midnight. Volunteers were tired, but happy to help, knowing that they prevented at least two hundred more unwanted puppies or kittens from coming into this world.