Happy Neuter Year

Happy Neuter Year
Saturday, December 31, 2022 by Cindy Sproles

Categories: Inspiration

Sven Lachmann from Pixabay Happy Neuter Year! I posted that on the sign outside the vet's office where I worked. The office was in a 150-year-old house that a dear vet friend and I converted into a vet clinic. It was homey, comfortable, and old, but no one expected it to become a veterinarian's office.

The first thing the vet did was install a large sign out front with a three-line letterboard. We knew folks needed to understand this old vintage home was now a vet clinic, and since we sat on the edge of a busy rural road, we needed to be effective.

Daily we came up with funny quotes to announce our opening and to educate new clients – for example, as Christmas approached, and folks slowed on continued flea and tick treatments. I put up a sign that said, Fleas Naughty Dawg (a throw-off on the song Felice Nava Da). Folks drove past, blew their horns, and even called to thank us for reminding them in a fun way that fleas and ticks were still a problem, even in the winter.

The humor on those signs showed folks that our clinic was a warm and welcoming place for their pets and them. It proved we would love their fur babies as much as they did. Humor does that. It warms, eases tension, and slows fear. Humor, done appropriately, brings peace and trust. That's what we wanted this 150-year-old house to become – a place where people and pets felt loved.

After Christmas, we struggled to come up with a good Happy New Year sign until my prince walked in and saw us Ilona Ilyés from Pixabay sweating a good sign slogan. He quietly walked to my desk, took a pen, and wrote three words on a sheet of paper. HAPPY NEUTER YEAR! In minutes, I posted this humorous sign that made folks laugh and sent a huge message to pet owners. One about pet overpopulation.

You see, in our area those years ago, the veterinarians were rotated at the local animal shelter. Each vet took a term for euthanasia. It was horrible! And though euthanasia was very humane and quick, there was never a time my vet and I left without literally being sick to our stomachs or in tears. It was unnecessary and terrible. It was HEARTBREAKING.

So if you wonder why years later, my New Year's Resolution for you is to spay or neuter your pet, you now understand why. Don't have a litter of puppies because you think the kids need to see them born. That's irresponsible, and those puppies need to be homed at some point. Don't be all manly and refuse to neuter because it's a "man thing." Again, irresponsible. When the facts are when you spay or neuter your pet, you add years to their lives by taking away a build-up of hormones that lead to cancer.

Your pet, in my opinion, is the closest example on earth of your Father in heaven's UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. If you want to understand God's unconditional love, look into your pet's eyes, who loves you despite yourself.

Pexels from Pixabay Thanks to asthma, I've been away from my first love of a job for almost 15 years. But it doesn't stop my love for pets or the love I have for my vet friends whom I was honored to work with for over twenty years. Like me, several of them are looking toward retirement, but their hard work and client education continues.

That vet clinic is now almost twenty years old. It's still staffed by my friend and three other wonderful vets. They still love every pet, and like me, they advocate spaying and neutering.

So to you, I wish you a Happy Neuter Year and pray that you will love your pet enough in the coming year to add years to their lives. Stop pet overpopulation.

Photo 1 Image by Sven Lachmann from Pixabay / Photo 2 Image by Ilona Ilyés from Pixabay / Photo 3 Image by Pexels from Pixabay

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