For years, we've been telling everyone who cares for companion animals how important it is to have them neutered. Fortunately, they've taken our word and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on neutering. Because of that, the tide of homeless animals crested some time ago and has begun to recede almost everywhere.

We won't win our fight agains pet overpopulation, though, until we begin to take our own advice. Most companion animal protection groups and shelters spend less than 5% of their budgets on neutering assistance programs.

Any system that spends 19 times more to treat a problem than to prevent it in the first place is doomed to an endless struggle.

Neutering programs more than pay for themselves. It's cost us $840,000 to operate our program for 5 years, lock, stock, and barrel, including all veterinary fees and administrative expenses down to the last paper clip. During that time 22,000 fewer cats and dogs have entered our shelters than in the five years before we had the program. This has saved us more than $1.5 million dollars on impoundment costs, alone, not counting the savings to municipalities from reduced animal control expenses.

Companion animal protection groups that don't operate shelters should at least "tithe" to neutering subsidy programs. And shelters with endowments that total more than a year's operating costs must do the same.