SPCA is concerned about the oversupply of companion animals. The excessive, uncontrolled breeding of companion animals is an important contributing factor in creating New Zealand’s widespread stray and unwanted animal problems, which leads to negative welfare impacts, negative impacts on the environment, and the euthanasia of healthy animals. The desexing of companion animals is an important component of population control and has welfare benefits for the desexed animal.

SPCA supports programmes that provide education and services promoting desexing and the offer of reduced cost or free desexing schemes.

Cost is the most common barrier to people desexing their animals. SPCA encourages increased local and national government funding of desexing initiatives to address the problem of companion animal over population.

SPCA supports pre-pubertal desexing and recommends that all cats, dogs, rabbits, and other companion animals as deemed appropriate, are desexed as early as possible in accordance with veterinary advice.

SPCA supports the pre-pubertal desexing of companion animals by a veterinarian, or a veterinary student under the direct supervision of a veterinarian. Adequate and appropriate medical care must be provided prior to, during and after the operation, including anaesthesia and analgesia.

SPCA advocates for early age desexing in situations where rehoming with future population control is of the highest priority (i.e. in shelters).

SPCA acknowledges that this can be a controversial topic when it pertains to dogs. To date the scientific literature does not support a clear and causal link between early age desexing (less than 16 weeks of age) and serious health or behavioural consequences in dogs. Routine desexing protects the welfare of the individual dog as well as the general dog population by reducing the incidence of certain medical problems and minimising contributions to the unwanted animal population.

SPCA acknowledges that pregnant shelter animals may be desexed due to companion animal overpopulation and the welfare challenges of caring for the offspring in a shelter environment.

Pregnant animals and newborns are at increased risk of welfare harm in the shelter environment. The shelter is a high stress environment with high risk of disease exposure and newborns are vulnerable to diseases they have not been exposed to before. Shelters often lack enough foster families to care for pregnant animals and their newborns, who need constant care for the first 6-8 weeks of life. It is safe to desex cats and dogs at any stage of pregnancy.