by Rebecca Mikulin

Created on: January 18, 2009

The pet overpopulation problem in the United States is as bad as ever as negligent pet owners have pets with litters of "accident" puppies and kittens every minute. This negligence is often caused by ignorance, laziness, or simply not caring about the consequences to the health of their pet and their pet's young. Whatever the reason, thousands of animals die in shelters every year because someone somewhere didn't do the right thing. Are laws that mandate spaying and neutering for all pets the answer? Personally, I think these laws are not enforceable. At the same time, I believe they are immensely practical and would do a world of good in the direction of curtailing the pet overpopulation problem.

Does this sound a little contradictory? I don't think so. First and foremost, many pets do not get spayed or neutered because either the owners don't make it a priority or because they don't see the need to get their animal fixed. Recently, a dog I know nearly died because her owner hadn't seen the importance in spaying her - that is, not until an infection in her uterus necessitated an emergency spaying operation. Her owner is a law-abiding citizen and were it the law, he would have spayed her immediately after he got her. I am convinced that he is not the only one "on the fence" about whether or not to get his pet fixed, putting this action into law would ensure that those pets, at least, would be spayed and neutered.

Is it enough to create a law that requires people to spay and neuter their pets? No, it's not. Hundreds of animals live outside the jurisdiction of animal control or reside in secluded housing where attention is never brought to them. It would be all too tempting for people with these pets not to comply with a spay and neuter law. However, most of these owners are conscientious pet people, so if the mandatory laws are backed up with campaigns on television, radio, internet etc. educating people about the overpopulation issues and potential health hazards for intact animals, the likelihood that they will spay or neuter their pets just went up.

Next, how many people don't get their pets spayed and neutered because of the cost of the operation? Many places have spay/neuter clinics that offer to do it for a nominal fee, sometimes even free, but in most areas these only happen once or twice a year. What if you're working during that time? What if you're out of town? If spaying and neutering becomes law, it's only fair that that law offers a way to make it

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