by G Wallace Taylor

Created on: January 15, 2009

The Mandatory Spay/Neuter Law is the embodiment of doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

No one wants to see animals euthanized because negligent owners are not responsible for spaying or neutering their pets but by requiring that pet owners sterilize their animals, the problem of animal abuse is certain to increase.

While most people who support this type of law have the animals best interest at heart, it would be wise to step back from the emotional side of the situation and view the big picture.

Ask yourself, why do so many pet owners allow their dogs or cats to breed indiscriminately? Supposing that the pet owner is not a hard-hearted individual who just does not care or a puppy mill owner, the answer lies in the cost to spay or neuter. In some communities, the expense makes it unfeasible for the pet owner to have their animal sterilized.

Now, shift your thoughts to what happens when a pet owner suddenly faces the legal requirement of sterilizing their animals. Remember, they didn't have the money for the procedure in the first place; the new law doesn't suddenly put more cash in their wallet. So they do the only thing they can do in order to comply with the lawthey get rid of their pets.

There are two ways to solve any problem, by offering assistance or by offering resistance. The mandatory spay/neuter laws fall into the latter category. Moreover, the animals are the ones who will suffer. Do you help? Or do you hinder? Any time you try to change something you don't like by hindering others, you create animosity and you encourage resistance. Often, that resistance leads to illegal or unethical activities.

Consider the era of Prohibition because it closely mirrors the desired regulations of the mandatory spay/neuter legislation. Why did Prohibition fail? Because it sought to change human behavior by making the consumption of alcohol illegal. In doing so, it created more problems than it solved and it turned everyday citizens into criminals.

If mandatory spay/neuter laws make their way onto the books, kind souls who now open their hearts and their homes to a stray dog or cat, will begin turning the animals away to fend for themselves. Those who find themselves stuck with a dog that just gave birth to a beautiful litter of puppies will take a step they normally would never considerthey will bundle the puppies in a sack and toss them into the stream.

Instead of attempting to control and hinder, should the pro-animal advocates decide to raise money and implement free-sterilization clinics, along with legislation that rewards a pet owner for bringing an animal in for spay/neuteringsuch as a coupon for two months free dog food, they would find the unwanted animal population decreasing on its own.

But create a situation in which people can no longer afford to render aid to animals without financial punishmentand we will not only punish every animal ownerwe will punish our furry friends who depend upon us for their welfare.

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