A number of shelters have been doing pediatric sterilization for more than two decades. And the number is growing. This is seen as a major effort toward a solution for repeat offenders who beget one generation after another to flood the shelters. Veterinary associations are beginning to endorse the practice.
Studies show no significant adverse long-term effects and a host of good ones.
There's also evidence that altered animals are adopted more quickly than intact ones. She saw this as an end to an ever growing problem of unwanted animals and, eventually, as an aid to decimate the numbers of dogs needing purebred rescue. She felt something had to be done to curtail the numbers, something more than education but less than a restrictive mandate. One of the concerns with pediatric surgery is anesthetizing such tiny creatures. The shelter seemed a logical place to begin.