February 22, 2018 by Philip Bushby, DVM, MS, DACVS

Audience: Executive Leadership, Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers, Veterinary Team

Video Length: 96 Minutes

In the face of confusing and often conflicting reports in the veterinary literature, how can veterinarians and animal shelters understand the pros and cons of spay/neuter and determine the most appropriate age to perform these surgeries in male and female dogs and cats?

In a free webcast by Maddie's Fund® and the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, The Optimal Time for Spay/Neuter: An Analysis of Critical Spay/Neuter Literature, Philip A. Bushby, DVM, MS, DACVS, will guide attendees through the relevant medical studies, examine conflicting findings and perspectives, and arrive at a set of recommendations for different populations of cats and dogs.

Topics covered will include:

  • Articles supporting delayed spay/neuter or lack of spay/neuter
  • Articles supporting spay/neuter or early spay/neuter
  • Shelter-specific experiences and findings
  • How to make spay/neuter decisions
  • Recommendations for timing of spay/neuter surgery based for owned and sheltered pets


This course has been pre-approved for Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credits.

Bio portrait of Philip A. Bushby, smiling in a dark suite and a red and white-striped tie

About Philip A. Bushby, DVM, MS, DACVS

Dr. Bushby is a Board Certified Veterinary Surgeon who served on the faculty at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine for 36 years. Although he retired from Miss State in 2014, he still holds the Marcia Lane Endowed Chair of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare at Mississippi State University and works at the College part-time. His primary focus has been spay/neuter, taking junior and senior veterinary students to animal shelters in north Mississippi and providing basic wellness care and spay neuter services for animals eligible for adoption for over 20 years. The service significantly increases the adoption rates at the participating shelters, provides the students with an exceptional surgery experience and sensitizes the students to the plight of animals in shelters. His program was honored in 2012 to be a featured display in the Smithsonian Institute's folk-life festival in Washington DC.

Dr. Bushby serves on the Board of Mississippi Spay/Neuter and previously served on the Board of PetSmart Charities, Inc., and the Board of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. He was a member of the organizing committee for the specialty board in shelter medicine and received the ASPCA's Henry Berg Award in 2008, the AVMA's national Animal Welfare Award in 2012 and the Association of Shelter Veterinarians Meritorious Service Award in 2015.

A strong advocate of spay/neuter including pediatric spay neuter, Dr. Bushby speaks extensively nationally and internationally on the importance of spay/neuter, efficient spay/neuter techniques and pediatric spay / neuter.