WILSALL — As things start to warm up in Montana, puppy and kitten season is rolling around. So I visited Prairie Song Rescue in Park County to hear about the importance of spaying and neutering animals.
"Spay and neuter is our biggest priority. Spay and neuter, because of our population overwhelm, is our biggest priority, period," says founder Jessica Zimmerman.
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Prairie Song Rescue is based in Wilsall, and Zimmerman says they’re currently at capacity for rescues.
"In January alone, we took in four mothers with litters; almost all of them were over ten. But we turned away that many a week as well. We turned away so many animals, and I know rescues we’ve worked in tandem with are having the exact same issue," she says.
April through October is typically considered kitten and puppy season. As the weather gets warmer in spring, unspayed and unneutered animals reproduce, causing shelters to see an influx of baby animals.
Zimmerman says, "However, this is year-round. We’re in a national crisis right now with the number of unwanted dogs. Shelters across the United States are euthanizing about 3 million animals a year."
Aside from overpopulation, Jessica says uncontrolled breeding of feral animals can have various negative effects—including under-socialization and disease.
"So, in areas where there is a large feral cat population, or feral dog population, it is going to put pets at risk even if they’re vaccinated. Disease can still occur," she says.
But despite being at capacity, Prairie Song is using its resources and partners to help feral cat populations around the state.
"We’ve got two up to the north of us that we’re going to start working on. Crazy Mountain Vet is actually shutting down on the 11th to work on a huge spay and neuter for us, and we’re trying to get other vets to step up and do that too," she says.
So, even if you can’t adopt, taking in a foster can help lighten the load on shelters.
"Foster homes are the best things for them. It’s not in the shelter environment, so they have more of the ability to learn what homes are about. Learn about using tools like kennels, and collars, and leashes. Just get the one-on-one attention they need," says Zimmerman.
