Why are shelters still killing healthy dogs in 2026?

Preventing unwanted births is the only way to reduce suffering before it starts.

February is Spay and Neuter Awareness Month, focused on preventing the births that overwhelm shelters and lead directly to confinement, disease, and death for dogs and cats.

Imagine walking into a shelter hallway where the air stings your nose from ammonia that never fades. 

Dogs press against metal kennel doors because the concrete beneath them stays slick with urine. 

Stress drives some dogs to chew at their own legs until the skin splits open.

Cats crouch inside litter boxes because overcrowded cages leave no clean place to lie.

She was born outside, gave birth outside, and her puppies face the same fate.

Shelters across the U.S. take in millions of dogs and cats every year. 

In 2024, intake reached about 5.8 million animals, while roughly 607,000 were killed because shelters ran out of space, staff, and medical care.

Many of those dogs and cats had been born on the streets a few months earlier.

Did You Know? Unspayed female dogs can become pregnant before one year of age. 

Birth often happens without medical help, causing puppies to die during prolonged labor. 

Surviving puppies reproduce while still young, creating suffering faster than rescues can keep up.

One dog saved today, while thousands more wait unseen on the streets.

Spay and neuter surgery prevents puppies and kittens from being born into danger. 

It also reduces shelter intake and lowers the killing of animals. 

February exists to recognize this progress while confronting a reality that cannot be ignored.

Spay and neuter surgery works only when a dog or cat can be captured, transported to a clinic, placed under anesthesia, operated on by a licensed veterinarian, monitored during recovery, and kept from reproducing afterward. 

Each step depends on funding, equipment, trained professionals, and time.



Millions of dogs and cats live beyond that reach.

One litter survives just long enough to produce the next generation.

Scientists agree that surgical programs alone cannot keep pace with how quickly dogs and cats reproduce at a global scale. 

Prevention must reach animals without relying on clinics, transport, or recovery space.

This is why our mission is to end the #1 cause of suffering and death for dogs and cats – overpopulation – by developing a permanent-lasting birth control Cookie that will only need to be eaten one time, and it will in effect spay or neuter – without surgery.

The world's 600 million stray dogs and 87 million stray cats give birth to over 1 billion homeless puppies and kittens every year.

She will grow into the same struggle her mother could not escape.

Tragically, those who survive also reproduce and give birth to another generation of homeless strays - thus repeating the cycle of suffering, every year.

February calls for prevention that stops suffering before the next litter is born.

Yes, I’ll Help End This Cycle of Suffering!

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Sources:

[1] Animal Care Centers of NYC

[2] AVMA

[3] Humane Society

[4] Shelter Animals Count