Animal charity the Blue Cross launched its Big Neutering Campaign on October 19th 2012 in response to what it describes as an ‘epidemic’ of unwanted kittens, puppies and pregnant animals in the UK.
According to the organisation, there has been a 70 per cent increase in the number of kittens born at Blue Cross centres in the first half of 2012, while the number of homeless puppies and kittens has also spiked dramatically.
“The tragedy is that somewhere along the line pets have become the latest throwaway commodity,” said Kim Hamilton, Blue Cross chief executive.
However, public attitudes towards neutering remain an obstacle, with new research revealing 31 per cent of owners who hadn’t neutered their animal simply didn’t feel it was necessary. Despite this, 20 per cent of cat owners and 16 per cent of dog owners had been caught out by their household pet producing an unexpected litter.
Ms Hamilton added that the government needed to change the law to discourage irresponsible breeding, suggesting every owner with more than one dog capable of breeding should be identified as a breeder and subject to the same restrictions.
