Spay Day USA Sponsors

The HSUS's President and CEO Wayne Pacelle joins Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at City Hall today for the signing of an historic spay/neuter ordinance. The measure, introduced by Councilmember Richard Alarcón and approved by the City Council last week, will require all cats and dogs in the City of Los Angeles to be spayed or neutered if they are older than 4 months unless they fall under one of seven exempted categories.

The signing marks a fitting commemoration for the 14th annual Spay Day USA, an annual event during which hundreds of community organizations, veterinary clinics and compassionate individuals across the nation host activities that inspire and make it easier for people to get their pets spayed or neutered.

Besides the ceremony where this landmark measure will be signed into law, there will be free spay-neuter, vaccination and microchipping of pets on the South Lawn of City Hall.

Start Spreading the News

Every year, millions of cats and dogs—half of all those entering shelters—are euthanized across the United States. Besides the obvious tragedy of lost pet lives, the costs of uncontrolled pet breeding can overwhelm cities and counties nationwide.

The staggering financial cost of pet overpopulation in the United States reaches an estimated $2 billion per year—$250 million in California alone—spent on animal control services and care for homeless animals. Animal experts agree spaying and neutering is the best long-term solution to the problem of pet overpopulation.

More than 30,000 animals across the country are expected to be spayed or neutered as part of Spay Day USA 2008.

Your Pet Could Be the Face of Change

To join in the celebration and support Spay Day USA, people are attending or supporting hundreds of events across the country. (Find an event). And until March 7, all pet lovers can get their own pets involved in the Spay Day USA efforts—just by picking up a digital camera or photo album.

By entering the Spay Day USA Pet Photo Contest, animal lovers put their pet's face in the running for more than prizes—their pet can literally become the face of change for homeless pets. When contestants ask friends and family to vote for their pet's photo, they spread the message that spaying and neutering helps solve pet overpopulation. 

It's not too late to enter—the contest runs through March 7, leaving plenty of time to get family and friends to vote for your pet and to be one of the top 500 vote-getters.

Boosting the Effort

This year, Doris Day, founder of Spay Day USA and the Doris Day Animal League, provided a special $50,000 grant through her foundation.

"We decided to expand our support of Spay Day USA this year by providing funds for spays and neuters in specific geographic areas where the help is most needed," said Day. "For 2008, we worked with The HSUS to identify needy areas, and we have granted supplemental funding in 10 states for additional spays and neuters. Those hundreds of animals will be part of what we hope will be many thousands of successful surgeries this year."

Veterinarian Tom De Vincentis is honoring Spay Day USA with free neuter and spay surgeries at his New York City animal hospital. But he's taken a unique step to draw attention to the event, and to the need to address pet overpopulation.

De Vincentis chose Spay Day for the launch of his first book, "Tails of the City: Confessions of a Manhattan Pet Vet," with a book signing at Rizzoli Bookstore in New York, N.Y. "Tails" is part memoir, part collection of stories of the pets of New York City and the people who love them. The cover of the book shows support for The HSUS.

Esther Honey Foundation

Spay Day in the Cook Islands.

Fourteen Years and Counting

Created by the Doris Day Animal League in 1995, Spay Day USA became a program of The HSUS when DDAL combined operations with The HSUS in 2006. Spay Day takes place the last Tuesday of February, but events and activities take place throughout the month of February across the United States and U.S. territories.

Spay Day is also taking place internationally, with events scheduled from South Africa to Nepal, and from the Philippines to Italy.

Take action now and see what Spay Day USA is all about.