Yes, but many people — especially many elderly women living alone — don’t usually have the cash on hand to get a pet fixed promptly. To get one of the low-cost or free deals offered by some local governments and animal welfare groups, you generally have to get a form, mail it in, get a coupon back, go to a participating vet. No doubt a lot can be done by Internet now, but the pet still needs to get to the vet, and many elderly people don’t have computers or Internet access. Many also don’t have cars and live in areas where public transportation is limited or non-existent, andmay have physical disability (mobility, vision, etc) that complicate the process. I did this once a long time ago, in basically per-Internet era, and it took a month, with no transportation issues and no disabilities, to get the job done. And if the pet is a stray that wandered in, it may already be pregnant, and the person is likely not to have a carrier (and a random cardboard box is an iffy way to confine a healthy young cat through a couple of bus or train rides and walking between those and the home and vet’s office).
Or if the animal is semi-feral and pregnant, you have to catch and/or trap.
I got one inside my house with the attitude that I’d ‘put’ her in the carrier. HA!
Did you know that a cat can find the hole in the boxspring cover under your bed? Did you know that they can wedge their bodies in the box springs and then lock their claws into the fabric?
Do you know how dang heavy a mattress and boxspring is to move by yourself?????
Yes, the problems you state are real ones.
I know that they are now using mobile vets to try to reach those who can't or won't go to get their pets fixed.
Clearly, we who are concerned about this problem have to support those groups that perform those functions.