[Dailydrool] spaying/neutering

[Beverly Szaton]

I don't think any of us on the Drool think that spaying is a bad thing, or
neutering. I do not feel guilty when I do it, because I have had intact
males and bitches and I know what it's like to deal with.
No, if I have no intact males around, why should I spay my bitch?  Ok,let me
tell you one reason.
When I was kennel manager and when I was Head Technician (a span of about 15
years) one of my jobs was to go through the stray and abandoned dogs and
cats periodically, and put a big, black *X* on the cage cards of those who
were going to be put to sleep because
1. They were vicious and not adoptable
2. They had been there too long (usually a couple of months)
3. They were ill with something that required continual or extreme
treatment-- cancer, severe mange, etc
4. Or worst of all, we were coming up on a holiday and needed the space.
So of course, perfectly healthy, happy dogs got euthanized. Let me tell you
that many or most of them were intact. Intact males, intact bitches, many of
the bitches come in when they are in season, and out seeking a male. That's
how my daughter got her Keeshond. That's how I got all my cats when I had
them.
What fun it was to put a leash on a young, excited, happy dog, wagging his
or her tail, delighted to be out of kennels, trusting me (because I did it,
I held them) to be nice to them, and then-------killing them.

I don't care whether there are health benefits or not. I don't care whether
you show or don't. I don't care whether someone thinks it's too young or too
old or too pretty or too anything. If you are not involved in a breeding
program and you don't have room for all the overflow then you need to neuter
or spay your pet. Anyone who thinks it isn't necessary has not had an
"accidental"litter that you then have to deal with,or held a year old Lab or
Pointer or Basset or Mutt while he wags his tail and the doctor puts a
needle in his vein to stop his heart. Do that a few times. Do it maybe a
hundred times and then come back and tell me that neutering and spaying
doesn't make a difference in dogs that get loose and roam because they're in
season, or the bitch down the road is.

Never feel guilty. You are not depriving your pet of anything except another
reason to get out the door or yard accidentally.

MomPerson to Nigel, Llewis, Mitchell and Cooper
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