While Hurricane Sandy's gale-force winds rattled buildings and its driving rain flooded roads, most people probably weren't thinking about spaying and neutering animals. But that's exactly what the folks who staff PETA's Mobile Clinics Division (MCD) program were thinking. Natural disasters should strengthen our resolve to spay and neuter because fewer unwanted animals born means fewer stray animals left to suffer on the streets.

Despite not being able to provide low-cost spay-and-neuter services in the middle of the hurricane—or over the Thanksgiving holiday, when people had other things on their minds—the MCD team altered almost 700 animals in November—699, to be exact.

Here are just a few of them: 

This dear pit bull's guardian is undergoing cancer treatment and wasn't able to take her dog to the vet. PETA got Sasha spayed, vaccinated, and back home again to comfort her guardian.

Morgan and Beanie might not have been as desperate to be spayed as they were to get cookies—but fortunately, they got both.

Teepee was already in heat, so her guardian knew that there was no time to waste. We quickly got Teepee spayed before she could add to the overpopulation crisis.

In just one year, one unspayed cat can give birth to 16 kittens and an unspayed dog can produce 12 puppies. Please help us stem the animal-homelessness crisis by supporting your local spay-and-neuter initiatives.

For animals, a summer romance can mean adding to the overpopulation crisis. But after July, nearly 800 animals near PETA's Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters won't have to worry about "getting in trouble"—like Rizzo. 

PETA's mobile veterinary clinics "snipped" 794 animals, including 154 whose families couldn't afford spay and neuter surgeries and 40 who couldn't get to the veterinarian without a ride there and back.

One patient, Trixie, lives in an area where there are no low-cost spay-and-neuter services available. Her guardian, a grandmother who is single-handedly caring for all her grandchildren, was ecstatic to be able to get Trixie spayed.

Not only did Coco the poodle get spayed, she also got the full beauty treatment. Staffers removed the painful mats from her fur, and now she and her happy guardian are sitting pretty.

Want to show animals some love this summer? Start by signing the pledge to end animal homelessness. 

As the sky-high temperatures across the country make clear, it's summer. But it's not vacation season for the staffers of PETA's mobile clinics division, who hit the road year-round to take low-cost to no-cost spay and neuter surgeries and other veterinary services to animals in need.

Too Hot to Be in Heat

We kicked off the summer in fine fashion—in June alone, the mobile clinics spayed and neutered 359 cats (84 of whom were feral) and 302 dogs, including 30 pit bulls. Here are some more stats to break it down even further:

• 127 of the animals were prepubescent, so they'll never reproduce and add to the overpopulation crisis.
• 105 surgeries were subsidized for indigent families.
• 32 animals were given door-to-door rides by PETA staff to and/or from our clinics.

In total, 661 animals were altered in June alone, including Booboo, whose guardian contacted PETA seeking help with flea prevention and grooming. He initially planned to breed this little Pomeranian, but when PETA offered to groom her for free, he gladly accepted the offer to have her spayed at the same time.

Another animal who caught the summer spay-and-neuter wave was Daisy, who was just about to come into heat for the first time. Fortunately, her guardians did not want that to happen, so PETA spayed her before she could have any puppies.

What You Can Do

Long summer days are the ideal time to help make life brighter for dogs and cats by pledging to end animal homelessness. One great way to start is to support PETA's work to address the homeless animal crisis—and you don't even have to go out in the heat to do it!

Our servicemembers aren't the only ones who make sacrifices for our freedom. Their companion animals often endure frequent moves, months of not seeing one of their beloved guardians, and all the other hardships that come with life in the military. To celebrate Independence Day, PETA honored the loyal four-legged companions of servicemembers in Southeastern Virginia by offering to spay or neuter and vaccinate them for just $4 each.

Partnering with the Virginia Beach SPCA (VBSPCA), one of our mobile veterinary clinics performed the spay and neuter surgeries, and the VBSPCA administered the vaccinations. Here are just a few photos from this event, after which many military mutts and freedom felines can now declare their independence from unwanted litters and many health problems: 

A 4-year-old pit bull named Sandy owes her life to a spay surgery that came not a moment too soon. Sandy's guardian had learned from her veterinarian that Sandy had a serious uterine infection, and while spay surgery would probably have cured it immediately, the vet's bill for the procedure would have been at least $900. Sandy's owner opted for far less costly antibiotic treatment, but two weeks later, Sandy's condition worsened. She stopped eating, and her distraught guardian called PETA for advice.

Sensing that Sandy was gravely ill, the head of our Mobile Clinics Division rearranged the clinics' schedules so that Sandy could be spayed the very next day (for free, a service that we offer for all pit bulls). During the operation, PETA's vet discovered that Sandy also had an enormous ovarian tumor. Suffering from two serious diseases, she almost certainly would have died, likely within days, without surgery.

Had Sandy been spayed as a puppy, she never would have developed the painful infection and ovarian tumor that put her life at risk. She is a living example of how spaying and neutering not only prevents unwanted animals from being born into a world bursting at the seams with them but also protects the health of those who are already here.

PETA's two mobile clinics spayed or neutered 770 animals in May, including Kharma, whose guardian was so grateful to have her spayed that despite his very limited income, he donated $75 to the program:

We also spayed Muffin, who had already had one litter of kittens for whom her guardian had difficulty finding homes:

Imagine stories like these occurring again and again each and every day, and you get some idea of the vital work performed by our mobile clinics every month.

Some people may know about PETA only from what they see on TV or read online or in the gossip mags, but celebrities aren't the only stars who work for PETA. I'm talking about our hardworking superstar spay-and-neuter clinic staffers, of course.

Six—sometimes seven!—days a week, PETA's mobile clinics provide animals in Virginia and North Carolina with free to low-cost sterilization surgeries. In April alone, the mobile clinics spayed or neutered 717 animals, and PETA's Community Animal Project fieldworkers even transported 29 more to and from the clinics. Here are just a few of the lucky animals "SNIP'ed" by our fabulous medical team this month:

Fluffy

Blackie Jr.

Layla

Missy

Charlotte

You can help end the animal homelessness crisis by volunteering at a spay-and-neuter clinic in your area or offering to transport an animal belonging to someone without transportation to a spay or neuter appointment.

Update: The correct answer is that during March, PETA's three mobile clinics spayed or neutered a whopping 882 animals. Thanks for participating in our contest and for your generous donations that keep the mobile clinics running. 

Every day, PETA's fleet of mobile veterinary clinics provides animals in Virginia and North Carolina with no-cost to low-cost spay-and-neuter surgeries. If you can correctly guess how many animals PETA "snipped" in March, you could win a dog-pampering set, complete with a new bowl, a Kong, treats, toys, and Ingrid E. Newkirk's book Let's Have a Dog Party! 

Meet Bridgette and Lucy, just two of the animals who won't be "littering," thanks to their low-cost surgeries in March:

Submit your guesstimates for how many animals PETA snipped in March in the comments section. The person whose guess comes closest to the actual number will win.

Good luck!

Written by Michelle Sherrow

The person whose answer comes closest to the actual number of animals PETA spayed and neutered in March will be the winner. In the event of a tie, a random drawing will be held to determine the winner. The contest will end on April 18, and we'll contact the winner on April 20. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

Can DSK's experience be used for good? Dominique Strauss-Kahn may no longer preside over the International Monetary Fund or be running for the highest office in France, but PETA France is banking on his ability to illustrate one pitfall of having unprotected sex: 

DSK might not have considered "spay-and-neuter advocate" to be his next move, but no one can argue that he isn't in the perfect position to let people know about the harmful effects of tomcatting—such as animal overpopulation. 

This time, perhaps something good can come from a sex scandal.

On one balmy day in March, PETA's "SNIP-Mobile" (Spay and Neuter Immediately, Please!) and our Holland M. Ware mobile spay-and-neuter clinic "snipped" 46 cats and 10 dogs, preventing hundreds of kittens and puppies from being born!

Adding Up Quickly

Multiply those numbers by hundreds of days in a single year, and it's easy to see how PETA's no-cost to low-cost spay-and-neuter clinics have prevented the births of hundreds of thousands of unwanted animals since the debut of our first clinic in 2001 (we have sterilized more than 80,000 animals so far!). The mobile clinics travel to low-income neighborhoods throughout southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina to reach animals whose guardians can't afford spay-and-neuter surgeries or don't have transportation.

What You Can Do

Help by always spaying or neutering your animal companions and signing PETA's pledge to end animal homelessness today. 

A big brouhaha erupted after the Detroit Animal Control Center euthanized an emaciated, injured and extremely ill dog named Ace (after the hardware store into which he painfully stumbled before being rescued off the streets) on Thursday. Photos of Ace make it abundantly clear that he was suffering; they show him looking weak, hunched over, grimacing, bleeding from a neck wound, and barely able to stand. He looks as if he can't get comfortable, and there is obvious pain in his eyes. Unfortunately, Ace had to endure the state-mandated four-day waiting period for strays, and no owner could be located for him (or they surely would have faced cruelty charges). This suffering dog didn't deserve to linger a minute longer.

We just have one question: The shelters are overloaded with homeless dogs―if anyone is upset because this dog was put down, why don't they stop screaming "Murder!' and do something truly helpful, like adopting another dear dog who doesn't need as much vet care and resocializing but just needs a home? There's certainly no shortage of homeless dogs in every single animal shelter in the country―no, make that, in the world! If you think that every single one―or even one in 20―can be placed, then you're living in a dream that we all wish would come true, but picking one dog and going nuts about his euthanasia is just a feel-good exercise not grounded in reality. Shelters need financial help for spaying and neutering in order to stop more dogs from being born and to find truly good homes even for dogs with no problems, the "easy" ones. Meanwhile, "no kill" shelters take in their quota and then leave the dirty work to everyone else.

But back to Ace―for dogs who have been through so much and are obviously suffering and miserable, a dignified release from their pain is often a blessing and the most humane option. Let's not misplace our anger and frustration, which should be directed at those who neglect animals so badly that they end up ravaged with parasites and barely able to keep their heads up as well as at those who cause animals to end up homeless and euthanized at shelters because they buy from pet stores or breeders and/or fail to spay or neuter their animals.

And let's use our energy to save lives by promoting spaying and neutering and lobbying for legislation that would restrict breeding so that we can arrive at a day when no animal is born unless a loving, permanent home is waiting for him or her. Animal homelessness is a preventable tragedy.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post