SPAY & NEUTER

Each year between six and eight million dogs and cats enter shelters in the United States. Approximately 2.4 million of the animals are euthanized. Spaying and neutering is a proven way to reduce the overpopulation and help ensure that every companion animal has a home.

Spaying and neutering is the most effective way of reducing domestic animal overpopulation and homelessness, despite common myths. For this reason, we through education, advocacy, referral, and financial assistance work to help members of the public become aware of the need for and obtain these services.

Spaying or neutering your companion animal will significantly increase his or her chances of having a long and healthy life. Altering typically increases a dog's life by 1 - 3 years, and a cat's by 3 - 5 years. Altered animals are much less likely to contract mammary gland, prostate, uterine, testicular, and other types of cancers. Altering animals also makes them safer by reducing their urge to roam. Surveys indicate that approximately 85 percent of dogs hit by a car are unaltered, and unneutered male cats living outside have been shown to live less than two years on average. Feline leukemia and FIV are spread by bites, making intact cats, which are more prone to fight, more susceptible than altered cats.

The capture, impoundment, and euthanization of unwanted animals costs taxpayers and private humanitarian agencies in the United States more than one billion dollars each year.

Stray animals can easily become a public nuisance by soiling streets and parks, ruining shrubbery, frightening children and elderly people, creating noise and other disturbances, causing automobile accidents, and sometimes even killing pets or farm animals.

Providing All-Weather Shelter (PAWS) Project: We offer insulated houses to dogs who live outdoors. Although having a dog live outside is not a violation of any Vermont cruelty laws as long as the animal's basic needs are being met, we do not consider this proper care. We therefore seek to provide comfort to these dogs by giving them doghouses to protect them from harsh weather. We also provide shelters for feral cats who have been sterilized through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs.

How You Can Help

Sponsor a cat or kitten. A donation of $60 will provide for spaying or neutering and all necessary vaccinations. Upon request, you can receive a photograph of the cat you sponsor.

Sponsor a dog or puppy. A donation of $125 will provide for the subsidized spaying or neutering of a dog.

A donation of any amount can be applied toward either one at your request.

Do you need help paying for spaying or neutering? 

Low-cost services are available in Vermont and all other states. The Vermont Spay Neuter Incentive Program (VSNIP) provides vouchers to people on many types of public assistance to have their pets spayed or neutered by a participating veterinarian.

Don't qualify for VSNIP, but still need assistance paying for your pet to be spayed or neutered? 

GMAD may be able to help. Call (802) 861-3030 or email info@gmad.info for more information.

There are all sorts of reasons why pets go missing. In some cases the incident can't be avoided, but in many it can be.

Below you will find links to information that can help to keep you from losing your pet. You'll also find advice on what to do if your pet goes missing or you find a lost animal.

How to Make Sure Your Pet Doesn't Become Lost

What to Do If Your Pet Goes Missing

What to Do If You Find a Lost Animal

Please feel free to contact us for additional information.