The Animal Welfare Society's Spay Day Campaign is winding down after another successful year! During the month of February, 17 local veterinarians offered low-cost, high-quality spay and neuter surgeries for cats of low income Mainers.

Run primarily by AWS volunteers, the purpose of the campaign is to keep adult cats with their families and reduce the number of unwanted kittens in the already overcrowded sheltering facilities throughout Southern Maine in the coming year(s). These wonderful veterinarians that are part of the campaign have donated their time, their clinic space and their professional talents to the cause.

AWS spays and neuters every animal coming to the shelter before they are adopted into new homes. However, the majority of cats are acquired by other means and are not altered before entering a home as a pet.  

Last year's campaign successfully spayed and neutered 400 cats. This year's goal of 500 surgeries has already been surpassed with 530 total bookings!  

"The volunteers and veterinarians are the key to success," said Sharon Secovich, an organizer of the event.  "Without their help and generosity, this event would not be possible."  

The Animal Welfare Society is very proud of it's Obedience Department and the dog training and behavior expertise of our professional staff.  

One of the reasons that AWS is able to re-home hundreds of dogs every year is the staff's ability to de-bunk common myths and assist our adopters as they consider adding a new member to the family.   

MYTH: My dog knows he did something wrong because he looks guilty.

MYTH: A puppy has to be at least six months old to be trained.

MYTH: If you adopt an older dog, it won't bond to you, learn new behaviors, and won't learn how to live with a new family because "an old dog can't learn new tricks."

MYTH: My dog is urinating in the house because he's angry that I left him alone.

Get the truth on these and other myths from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (link opens a PDF document).  

Do you have other questions about dog behavior? Call the AWS Behavior Help Line (207-985-3244 x113) to speak with our professionally certified obedience and dog behavior team.