Helping control the pet population

"Have your pets spayed or neutered," is the staple reminder that "Price is Right" host Bob Barker imparts on all his game show fans. Some can't understand why the television icon chooses to emphasize the importance of spaying and neutering animals, and others think it's all a joke.\nBut spaying and neutering is not a laughing matter -- not to Barker and especially not to Tess Peavy, owner and steer head of Bloomington's newly founded Neuter Scooter, a mobile veterinary clinic.\nA Bloomington resident and employee at Colerain Animal Clinic in Cincinnati, Ohio, Peavy has been running the Neuter Scooter for a few months now. The clinic locates itself in various spots throughout the area and offers feline owners a chance to take advantage of low-cost spaying and neutering procedures.\nPeavy said her charge for fixing cats is $35 for a procedural surgery that also includes all necessary vaccinations. Pet owners call Peavy to schedule an appointment and then drop their cats off at the predetermined Neuter Scooter location. Peavy said she can complete about 40 operations in a day.\n"The main benefit is population control," Peavy said. "The statistics on the numbers of euthanized cats due to overpopulation are mind boggling … it's incredibly depressing. The purpose of the Neuter Scooter is to help people get their cats fixed so we don't have to put so many down." \nAccording to Southern Indiana Save-A-Pet's Web site, euthanasia rates vary from 80 to 90 percent at animal shelters due to irresponsible pet owners. A large number of animals are put to sleep because of humans who do not spay or neuter their pets that are forced to deal with unwanted litters. \nPeavy said another contributing factor to the overpopulation of the feline species in this area is college students who get pets and don't get them fixed, or eventually abandon them.\nJunior David Cardimen owns a cat with his roommates. Cardimen said he understands college students are more irresponsible but also feels neutering any type of animal is inhumane.\n"Obviously college students are irresponsible," Cardimen said. "Whenever there's tests or finals on their minds, the last thing they think about is a cat."\nZiggy, the boys' house cat, was adopted approximately two years ago. Ziggy was spayed, as is a requirement for all adopted pets.\nThough he and his friends adhered to the animal adoption guidelines, Cardimen said he is fervently against the fixing of animals.\n"I feel that we are no one to take from something's nature," Cardimen said. "Neutering and spaying is wrong regardless of population control. We as humans overpopulate ourselves. Look at China."\nAs a voice to speak out against the overpopulation of felines, Denise Travers, director of animal care and control for the City of Bloomington, said even though college students are not fully responsible for the overpopulation of cats in the area, they definitely play a large role.\n"Students are definitely tied for first place, but there are people who just drive out into the country and dump cats," Travers said. "What's largely the problem with student adoptions is that they don't think about the 10- to 15-year commitment."\n"The animals are cute. (Students) miss their pets from home when they come to school … but when you adopt a pet you need to think of commitment in terms of time and money."\nSpaying and neutering felines has a number of benefits. Besides controlling overpopulation, the procedures aid in the overall beneficial mood change in cats.\n"When we got Emerson, she was in heat," junior Stacey Williams said of her adopted cat. "She was extremely affectionate but as soon as she was out of her cycle, she got really ornery. We got her fixed and she was better behaved, so it proved to be a good thing."\nWhile eliminating the heat cycle, Peavy said the spaying and neutering of felines also eliminates the possibility of uterine and ovarian cancer in female cats and reduces breast cancer risks. In males, testicular cancer is eliminated as well, which in turn decreases the incidence of prostate disease. \nPeavy also noted that cats are less likely to bite, roam around the neighborhood, run away or get into fights after being fixed. Cats that have not gone through the procedure are also at higher risks for developing Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV), which is primarily contracted through biting. The viral infection compromises a feline's ability to fight disease -- similar to HIV in humans.\n"The procedure is a 10-minute surgery. Owners just drop off their cats after setting up an appointment," Peavy said. \nTo contact Peavy for a spaying or neutering appointment, call 332-7525.\nFor more information about the Bloomington Animal Shelter, visit www.monroehumane.org/shelter/shelter.html.