Well,to some people cats are not much more than vermin and they would never even consider spending a dime on a mere cat
Kudos to the little girl for loving him enough to have him neutered,obviously smarter and kinder than her parents.
In my experience with having cats neutered,they do not need a lot of recovery time,mine were always fine the day after.
Hopefully Garfield will have a better life now and best of all,no unwanted little kittens will be born.