The SPCA has been talking about the importance of spaying and neutering for years meanwhile pet overpopulation continues to be an issue. Conclusion? The SPCA's "efforts" have been unsuccessful. A few years ago the SPCA announced that fewer than 30% of household pets in BC are purchased/adopted from SPCA's. The majority of SPCA's require adopted animals to be spayed/neutered whether at the time of adoption or before the age of 6 months. The compliance rate is fairly good at most branches (at least those who do follow-ups). The people who need to get the message about spay/neuter aren't so much those who've adopted from SPCA's, but those who have picked up "free" cats and dogs. With all the money the SPCA paid for the community consultation it would have been very simple to have included the following question:
"Is your pet spayed/neutered? If no, please state why you have chosen to not have this procedure done." It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the number one answer was, "it's too expensive."