Many of us are fortunate enough to have the companionship of a pet. As animal guardians, we take full responsibility for them, ensuring their health, safety and well-being. Sadly, countless animals still endure a life void of the mere necessities of food, water and shelter. Many are adult animals whose families no longer want them or who can no longer care for them. Others are kittens and puppies born because owners did not have their pets spayed or neutered.

Rarely surviving for more than a few years on their own, these animals die painfully by abuse, starvation, or disease. Some end up at the local animal shelter - commonly, having litters of their own - yet bringing more unwanted animals into the world.

Such is the sad truth of the pet overpopulation.

I have seen the suffering of these animals and the challenges that shelter workers face on a daily basis. They are forced to euthanize one animal after another due to our society's carelessness. Living creatures have become disposable items to be cuddled when cute and abandoned when they become inconvenient. Such disregard for animal life pervades and erodes our culture. As members of the community, we can make a difference.

The single most important thing we can do to end the abuse of companion animals and the killing of unwanted cats and dogs is to spay or neuter our pets. Please consider the facts: Every day 70,000 puppies and kittens are born in this country. In seven years, one female cat and her kittens can produce 420,000 cats. In six years, one female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies. An estimated 6 million cats, dogs, rabbits and other animals are destroyed in animal shelters throughout the U.S. each year. Countless more suffer on city streets, because there are simply not enough loving homes for them all. Tax dollars are saved as well as lives by spay and neuter efforts. The homeless animals crowd our shelters and overburden both public and private resources. Left to their own devices, these animals reproduce at a rate far beyond our capacity to find them homes, leaving euthanasia as the only "solution" to pet overpopulation. Clearly, cost-effective spay/neuter programs offer the only real answer to the problem of too many animals and too few homes. This means there will be fewer unwanted animals born, which in turn means fewer homeless animals to be dealt with after the fact at considerable cost to taxpayers. At present, it is estimated to cost taxpayers $1 billion annually to capture, house, and either adopt or euthanize homeless animals.

Spaying and neutering can also prevent certain types of cancer and other diseases, allowing cats and dogs to live longer and happier lives. With all the love and happiness our animal companions give to us, it is a small price to pay for the health of your pet and the prevention of unwanted kittens and puppies.

On Tuesday, I encourage you to join The Humane Society of the United States and local animal shelters and rescue groups and take part in the 14th annual Spay Day USA. Recognized nationally, Spay Day USA is America's day of action which encourages the spaying and neutering of pets. During Spay Day USA, veterinarians and their staff, animal welfare professionals, business owners, and citizens join forces nationwide to provide spay/neuter services and to promote spay/neuter as an essential component of good pet health care, as well as an effective and humane means of decreasing the euthanasia of homeless animals in shelters.

You can help! Educate your family, friends and co-workers about the importance of spay/neuter and spread the word. Distribute information and flyers about spay/neuter at town meetings, your office, local coffee shop, pet supply stores and grocers. Volunteer your time at a local animal rescue group and most importantly, have your pet spayed or neutered. Together, we can ensure that every companion animal enjoys a long, healthy and happy life in a loving home.

Alexandra Welch-Zerba is a volunteer at Angelcat Haven Feline Rescue in Attleboro. Through Feb. 29, Angelcat Haven, in partnership with the Sylvan Animal Clinic in Fall River, will participate in Spay Day by offering low-cost spay/neuter surgeries to the pets of a limited number of local area residents. For more information, call Angelcat Haven at 508- 203-4240 or e-mail to info@angelcathaven.com. For more information about Spay Day USA visit www.spaydayusa.org.