Lower in spay-neuter surgical procedures throughout pandemic might undermine pet welfare

Progress revamped a long time to manage overpopulation of canines and cats by way of high-volume spay-neuter surgical procedures is in danger due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic, a workforce of UF researchers conclude in a brand new research.

The affect — felt each at group shelters and veterinary clinics — contains sharp declines in spay-neuter surgical procedures after the preliminary pandemic-triggered lockdowns, adopted by staffing shortages in clinics and shelters, overcrowding and lagging pet adoption charges. All of those issues are compounded by a nationwide scarcity of veterinarians, which has been felt much more acutely in shelters and spay-neuter clinics, the researchers say in a research that seems at this time in Frontiers of Veterinary Science.

The research targeted on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quantity of surgical procedures carried out by spay-neuter clinics, stated Simone Guerios, D.V.M., Ph.D., a scientific assistant professor of shelter drugs at UF and the research’s lead writer.

The workforce drew its analysis from 212 clinics nationally, all of which make use of the cloud-based clinic administration software program program Clinic HQ, which is particularly designed for amenities that target spay-neuter and preventive well being care companies.

“The excessive degree of spay-neuter achieved over the previous 5 a long time is the only most necessary driver of lowered pet overpopulation and euthanasia in animal shelters,” Guerios stated. “The rise in sponsored spay-neuter entry helped drive the euthanasia of shelter pets in the USA from an estimated 13.5 million in 1973 to 1.5 million in 2019.”

Utilizing 2019 as a baseline, the UF workforce aimed to find out the affect of the pandemic on the quantity of spay-neuter procedures carried out in 2020-2021 on the 212 clinics, which collectively carried out greater than 1 million surgical procedures per 12 months and had been on observe to extend surgical procedures by 5% over the earlier 12 months.

However within the 24 months from January 2020 by way of December 2021, 190,818 fewer surgical procedures had been carried out on the clinics studied than could be anticipated had 2019 ranges been maintained, the researchers discovered.

“If an analogous sample was skilled by different spay-neuter applications in the USA, it could recommend there’s a deficit of greater than 2.7 million spay-neuter surgical procedures that animal welfare organizations have but to deal with,” stated co-author Julie Levy, D.V.M., Ph.D., the Fran Marino Endowed Distinguished Professor of Shelter Drugs Schooling at UF’s School of Veterinary Drugs.

All of the impacts of the pandemic mixed have the potential to undermine progress made in controlling pet populations and euthanasia in shelters, Levy added.

“At present, shelters are in disaster mode, with overcrowding and lagging adoptions,” Guerios stated. “Pet overpopulation appears to be growing, resulting in elevated shelter euthanasia for the primary time in a few years.”

The UF School of Veterinary Drugs is responding to societal wants by growing class dimension and reworking its surgical coaching facility to reinforce surgical abilities growth. The school additionally provides 4 programs and clerkships particularly designed to offer college students with real-world spay-neuter expertise, Levy stated.

As a part of these hands-on studying alternatives, UF veterinary college students spay and neuter 1000’s of cats and canines of their native communities, she added.

“Via our current growth of sophistication dimension to fulfill the growing demand for veterinary graduates, together with distinctive certificates applications and shelter drugs internships, our faculty is taking proactive motion to deal with these disturbing tendencies in animal healthcare and well-being,” stated Christopher Adin, D.V.M., chair of UF’s division of small animal scientific sciences, which oversees the faculty’s shelter drugs program.

Media contact: Sarah Carey, careysk@ufl.edu, 352-294-4242