Animal Lovers....?

Question

Do you think the U.S. should come up with a law giving pet owners an "allowance" to spay/neuter your animal? In retrospect, anyone who has an un-altered animal and is not a reputable breeder, should be fined until there animal is altered?

Answer 1

I think spaying and neutering should definitely be free if nothing else! Think of how much money it would save the government not having to deal with all those extra puppies and kittens.... All these people saying they can't afford to get their animal fixed and yadda yadda. It would make things a lot simpler.

Answer 2

I think every country should have that law (I live in Australia). That is a really good idea. I mean we pay so much taxes for so many things so why not make a percentage of it for desexing animals which will help reduce the number of animals being put down every day. If you think about the amount of money pounds and animal shelters spend everyday to feed these animals for a week just so they can be put down, I think your idea is fantastic! Also the fining for people that do not desex their own animal is a good idea too. That would definately encourage people to get their pets desexed!

Answer 3

Wow, awesome answers... I don't think I can top that so I'll just agree.

1) That "allowance" would come from our tax money. I pay enough money to the government as it is. I also donate all sorts of time and money to animal welfare / rescue / etc. I'd rather *I* choose where my money goes rather than put it in the government "pot" where the majority of it goes to administration and bureaucracy and maybe it goes to programs like this and maybe it goes to rebuilding some historic railroad or who knows what. The government is not our parent, should not be our parent, and should not be our first (or second, or third) place that we turn to attempt to magically "fix" societal issues.

2) Who decides what makes a reputable breeder? That California bill did nothing to account for pretty much anything other than AKC dogs, a great many of whom are NOT owned by responsible breeders. It left all sorts of openings for puppy mills / commercial breeders, and no openings for working dogs or competition dogs, since all dogs would need to be altered by 4 months old (which is WAY too early for many dogs anyway), and how on earth is a breeder supposed to evaluate whether their 4 month old puppies are going to make good breeding prospects? You find that out by letting them develop, seeing what kind of qualities the dog has, and THEN deciding to spay or neuter. And keep in mind that many of your best breeders do not physically keep every dog on premises that they may want to include in their bloodlines. Smart breeders will do co-owns or will place their puppies in individual pet homes where the new owners will keep the pups intact for a period of time -- by 1 or 2 years old you can better gauge if the dog should be kept in the breeding program to contribute back into the breed. It would be a genetic travesty to hack and slash all but a tiny percentage. Gene pools can not be safely maintained with the handful of dogs that would remain after all of the hoops of determining which breeders (and entire breeds) even qualify.

3) Are you a reputable breeder if you breed AKC breed dogs? What about Rare breeds? What about hybrids like Labradoodles and Puggles. I'm involved with Shiloh Shepherds and there are great dogs and some awesome breeders, but they aren't AKC and have no intention of being AKC -- who decides if any of those breeders are even eligible to be considered legally "reputable"? Keep in mind, please, that the government you're counting on to make this decision ruled ketchup as a *vegetable* for the purpose of staying in nutritional guidelines for school lunches. Mmm, tomato-flavored corn syrup... eat your nummy veggies.

How about instead of fining people for owning intact animals, what if counties just charged higher licensing fees for intact animals? What if instead of $5 for altered and $10 for intact (like my county) it were $5 for altered and $50 for intact. Of course, then you've got the problem of getting people to actually comply since there's already a huge rate of people who don't bother to get their dogs licensed, the majority of whom I presume are the exact same people who don't bother to alter their dogs out of laziness or short finances.

Answer 4

People need to be responsible for their own animals, not our government. We already pay enough in welfare to people, we can not afford to do the same for animals. You also can't fine people for breeding animals, it would be impossible to enforce for one thing. How do you determine who is or is not a reputable breeder? Our economy can't support something like this. We just have to hope that people have half a brain, and acknowledge their own responsibility. BTW-all 4 of my dogs are altered, and all 3 of my cats are, too.

Answer 5

I love your idea but No matter what is the questions or the answers and no matter what we think we are or what we thinks about who we are ,meaning either prisoner or the warden , rich or poor, you eat meat or beans you love or you hate you except or reject ,leftist or rightist , black or white ,religious or atheist, and all other species living with us on planet earth and beyond which we all share a common bond that's we are really one ,but there is a down side to our existence a hidden secret which kept from us and they continue to suppress the truth and to protect their system of deception from crumbling , and humanity will be free ,but are you really wants to know ,are you ready , I hope so ,and I hope SO called man in authority read it and TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE GAME IS AGAINST ALL OF US , HERE COMES THE TRUTH MY FRIENDS THAT WE ALL LIVING ON THIS PLANET AS A GUINEA PIGS , LIKE REALLY ANIMAL FARM FOR EXPERIMENTS. PURE AND SIMPLE LABORATORY

Answer 6

Absolutely not! A people that allows their government to take those kinds of steps is allowing their country to become closer to being Socialist. Bad idea. However, that is exactly what very short-sighted supporters of AB 1634 are trying to push in California.

This bill puts NO money into low-cost spay neuter clinics OR education. Should we give an allowance to pet owners to spay/neuter? Most people can afford to spay or neuter their pet. They just don't care to. I'm not going to pay to get YOUR dog spayed when you can afford to do it yourself. Pay for it yourself or don't have a dog.

And how do you determine who is a reputable breeder or not? With AB 1634 reputable breeders would be forced to become "commercial" breeders. People are trying to stop the business of breeding (stop back yard breeders who make money off their dogs) all over the US and yet in California they are, in essence, encouraging it - trying to MAKE dog breeding a business! Idiots.

If you are showing your pet in conformation shows - is that the only qualifying mark of a reputable breeder? Give me a break. This is not the only reason dogs are bred - to look pretty in a ring! So many people forget about function. Different dog breeds were developed for a reason. What about the invaluable working dog? According to AB 1634 their breeders will have to spay and neuter these dogs and put an end to the desirable working characteristics that have so carefully been bred into them. It is common to breed in another dog of another breed if the breeder thinks it will improve his working line. Dogs worth breeding are not always pure bred.

Some jobs our invaluable non-show dogs do for us that humans cannot do well without them:

* Tracking/trailing Search & Rescue dog
* Airscent Search & Rescue dog
* Urban Search & Rescue dog
* Water search dog (drowning victims)
* Water rescue dog (retrieve swimmers in distress)
* Avalanche dog
* Guide dog for the blind
* Signal dog for the deaf
* Mobility assistance dog
* Service dog for the disabled
* Labrador Retriever retrieves three ducks across a flooded field
* Police service dog
* Police trailing dog
* Dual purpose police dog
* Evidence dog
* Narcotics detection dog
* Explosives detection dog
* Guard dog
* Watch dog
* Accelerant (Arson) detection dog
* Military working dog
* Cadaver dog / Human remains detection dog
* Termite detection dog
* Mine detection dog
* Natural gas detection dog
* Lost pet search dog
* Sled dog
* Sighthound
* Wildlife detection dog
* Cancer detection dog
* Seizure alert dog
* Livestock herding dog
* Livestock guardian dog
* Multipurpose farm dog
* Agricultural produce detection dog
* Terrier
* Upland hunting dog - pointer
* Upland hunting dog - spaniel
* Hunting retriever

Also, our shelter's behaviorist's screening dog, my brother's Akbash/Great Pryenese cross livestock gaurdian dog who works tirelessly on his farm, and my non-show gaurdian and future TDI dog who, btw, is getting spayed but that is MY choice and I am happy to do it but I will defend the freedoms of my neighbor still the same.

Answer 7

I don't think so. The best we can hope for is better education. New "laws" or "taxes" seldom solve a problem of ignorance

Answer 8

the allowance you are talking about is already in affect. it is in their property taxes and license per animal they have.

Answer 9

Care your pets from your own pocket.GL.