City recognizes Spay Day

Kay Williams, left, and Jacquie Brown listen as Nevada Mayor Bill Edmonds reads a proclamation recognizing Feb. 20 as Spay Day USA in Nevada. This event is sponsored by the National Humane Society and Vernon County People for Pets as well as three local veterinarians to encourage pet owners to have their dogs and cats spayed and neutered to reduce the overpopulation of cats and dogs. Nationally, the organizations are planning to spay or neuter 20,000 dogs and cats on Feb. 20. Locally, Vernon County People for Pets and local veterinarians are planning to spay or neuter about 25 dogs and 32 cats. According to information from Vernon County People for Pets "one female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs in a six-year cycle and one female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats in a seven-year cycle. Only one in 10 dogs and cats will get a home. That's a 90-percent mortality rate. For those that do get a home, we've all seen that not every pet owner is a good owner. Bottom line, spay/neuter is the humane way to counteract the above statistics." In addition to local veterinarians performing the procedures, Jacquie Brown, Janet Erwin, Mary Koefed, Janet Wray, Jane Toronto and Kay Williams will be volunteering their time today to help with the work. They will be responsible for logging animals in, placing them in cages, escorting them to the doctor, returning them to their cages and making sure the pet is returned to their owner. "Otherwise, the veterinarian wouldn't be able to handle the logistics of spaying or neutering so many animals in one day," Frank Briscoe, Vernon County People for Pets representative, said.