All over Belize there are homeless animals. Most of them are sick with contagious viruses, mange, tick fever and sexually transmitted diseases all of which could be contracted by your family’s pet. They are abused, neglected, kicked and stoned: miserable animals that will die in pain and alone. Not only that, but alive or dead, they are a direct risk to the health of the human community around them.

A homeless animal is an unwanted animal, and unwanted animals come from unwanted puppies and kittens. Spaying or neutering your pet before it reproduces is the only way to break this cycle.
You may think just because your dog is chained or in a yard, it can’t get pregnant, but animals on heat will find a way – and a chain-link fence is no barrier!
You may convince yourself that you can easily find the perfect home for your unwanted puppies, but often the puppies grow to be too aggressive or too much to handle and they find themselves out on the street, producing even more puppies.

Humane societies can only do so much to help with over-population, they have limited resources for rescue and rehabilitation and very few homes where they can place dogs -and especially cats - once they are healthy again. Often the only solution is euthanasia, which is also suprisingly expensive to do humanely, which is why city councils employ strychnine.

Spay/neuter is the only permanent, 100-percent effective method of birth control for dogs and cats.

Spaying and neutering – your questions:

What is Spaying & Neutering?
Spaying usually refers to the sterilization process of a female animal.
Neutering usually refers to the sterilization process of a male animal and is also used as the general term for both males & females

When can it be done?
Between 10 weeks and 6 months for females
Any time after 10 weeks for males.

What are the advantages?
Reproduction is hard on an animal: the female will live a longer, healthier life without the constant physical stress of coming into season, pregnancy and nursing.
Males are less likely to stray and will not get into heat-driven fights which often lead to horrible injuries, not to mention the risk of poisoning during the council’s animal control pogrammes.
The risk of breast cancer and uterine infections in females and uterine/testicular cancer in males is almost eliminated in a sterilized animal.
There will be no offspring to worry about from your female dog or cat.
Male cats, once neutered is unlikely to spray his territory, which has to be good news!
If you have several cats or dogs, sterilization stops heat-driven aggression, which makes for a tightly-bonded group which is more protective of its family, which of course, includes you.

A fixed male is no good as a guard dog, right?
Wrong. There’s a lot of hearsay about neutered males. It will not make him look 'less macho', it will not make him less aggressive, and neutering alone does not make him fat (too much food and lack of exercise does that). And it absolutely is necessary. One male dog left intact can father hundreds of puppies every week, given the opportunity. Fixed males are cleaner too: they tend not to over-mark their territory.
And for the record, fixed females are just as protective as intact females, plus you don't lose them to motherhood every 6 months.

What is the dollar cost of neutering in Belize?
First of all, ask yourself the cost of not neutering:

* Your male is howling, barking, scratching at the gate, peeing everywhere, keeping you awake, messing up your yard, fighting with other dogs and going missing for days at a time - which means worry for you, not to mention he’s not doing his job of watching your home.

* Your female is on heat, local dogs come around, fighting, messing up your yard, keeping you awake, fighting with your other dogs and causing injuries that need treating.

* Your female gets pregnant: she needs care, attention, extra food, a better place to sleep and have her pups.

* The puppies arrive: the mess, the noise, the worry of them getting lost or stolen. More extra food to buy, the stress of finding homes for them…

For females, this happens every 6 months. For males, mating is pretty much a permanent thought.

Belmopan Humane Society members recieve discounts with certain veterinarians and periodically, the Society offers low-cost clinics for needy owners. Contact your veterinarian to find out the dollar cost of neutering your animal.
Don't forget - it’s a one-time payment. Job done.

The problem of over-population effects us all, not just dog owners.

It costs money to implement the City Council control programmes for stray animals. Your money.
Your trash is tipped out, your yards are soiled, you may even find you are missing a chicken or two…
Your children’s health is at risk: directly from transmittable diseases, including rabies following animal bites and attacks - and indirectly from one of the many parasites found in animal feces.


Ask us about spaying and neutering your pet.
Check our website for low-cost clinics and discounts from local veterinarians.

A healthy community, with healthy pets and clean streets is the mark of a responsible community.
Between us, we can make Belmopan a leader in Belize.