Spay and Neuter

Why You Should Spay/Neuter Your Pet

According to the Humane Society of the United States, an estimated six to eight million dogs and cats enter U.S. shelters each year: 50% of these animals (three to four million) are euthanized because there are not enough homes for them — that’s one every eight seconds!  As tremendous as the problem of pet overpopulation is, it can be drastically improved if each of us takes just one small step: spaying/neutering our pets. Spay/neuter surgery is commonly and routinely performed every day.

Denver has a variety of low-cost veterinary options for spay/neuter. See our Community Pet Resource Guide(PDF, 5MB) for more information. 

 

Here are the top 10 reasons to spay/neuter:

  1. Helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by preventing certain types of cancers.
  2. Helps to prevent behavior problems.
  3. Makes pets less likely to roam the neighborhood, run away, be injured, or get into fights.
  4. Helps keep pets and communities safer by preventing animal bites and aggression.
  5. Helps prevent pet overpopulation by ensuring no more unwanted animals are born.
  6. Helps to prevent your pet from spraying or marking, which can ruin furniture and carpeting.
  7. Eliminates female pet heat cycles, eliminating constant crying and nervous behavior.
  8. Makes life easier on you and your pet — no headaches caring for animals in heat or caring for offspring, finding them homes, etc.
  9. Helps homeless animals have a better chance of finding their forever homes. Think you want to breed to “keep your bloodline alive”? Only one dog out of most litters will stay in its first home for its entire life – most end up in the shelter system. (30% of surrendered dogs are purebreds.)
  10. Saves you money! Spay/neuter surgery is highly cost-effective, and is a lot less than the cost of having and caring for a litter. It also beats the cost of treatment when your unneutered male escapes and gets into fights with the neighborhood stray!

Contact Us

Phone

Officer Dispatch: 720-913-2080

Alternate Phone

All Other Inquiries: 3-1-1 or 720-913-1311

Location

Denver Animal Shelter
1241 W. Bayaud Ave.
80223
View Map

Donate Today!

Sunspot Dog Sculpture

Denver Animal Protection (DAP) operates Denver Animal Shelter (DAS), an open-admissions shelter that is home to nearly 10,000 lost and abandoned pets each year.

 Donate to the Denver Animal Shelter!

Credit and Debit Card Service Fees

Starting May 1, 2025, the City and County of Denver will charge a 2.5% service fee for processing credit and debit card transactions. The service fee is non-refundable. There are no fees for payments by cash, business check or money order.

 

 

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