Celebrating a very merry un-birthday

While negotiations seem to have stalled between the Metro Council and animal advocates demanding changes to decrease the municipal animal control’s 80% euthanasia rate, one local non-profit has quietly attacked the issue of homeless pets at its source.

“You can keep adopting animals out, which is important to save the lives of those who are already born without a home,” says Sandra DiTusa, Spay Baton Rouge’s founder. “Yet, at some point, you are going to saturate the market. To stop the production of unwanted pets, we must spay or neuter feral cats and [owned] cats and dogs, who are producing the unwanted pets [that land in] shelters.”

For the past five years, Spay Baton Rouge has made spay/neuter services affordable and accessible to all East Baton Rouge Parish pet owners including low-income families and caretakers of feral cat colonies.

By halting the cycle of uncontrolled breeding, Spay Baton Rouge reduces the number of homeless animals, the city’s euthanasia rate and the incidence of pet starvation, disease, abuse and neglect.

This year, Spay Baton Rouge is on track to sterilize its 10,000th animal, thereby preventing the births of nearly 1.25 million unwanted dogs and cats in the first three generations alone.

However, those numbers may prove to be quite conservative. Spay USA estimates a fertile female cat and her offspring can total 376 in three years and 11 million in nine years. Likewise, a fertile female dog and her litters can total 512 in three years and 67,000 in six years.

While grants have supported the organization’s work thus far, Spay Baton Rouge aims to become more self-sustaining and expand the geographic area it serves.

So, on March 19, Spay Baton Rouge hosts Spay Soiree from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Bishop Robert E. Tracy Center at 1800 Acadian Thruway. This year’s fundraiser celebrates the contributions of Spay Baton Rouge’s veterinarian partners and features the cuisine of Don Bergeron, a silent auction, raffle for a George Rodrigue Drew Brees silkscreen, performance by the Capitol City Jazz Collective and a photo exhibit of local celebrities and their pets.

Spay Soiree is open to the public. Tickets for the event ($40 in advance, $50 at the door) and for the raffle to win the Rodrigue silkscreen are available at www.spaybatonrouge.org.

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