The US has a huge problem with Pet Overpopulation. And do you know why we have this problem? 1. Animals are not spayed/neutered. (Only 10% of animals that are brought into shelters are spayed/neutered)--that means that 90% of animals are able to reproduce and so they DO reproduce causing more and more animals to be born, causing this overpopulation. 2. Animals are left and abandoned by owners to become strays. If these owners did NOT neuter/spay their animals then there we go again, more strays. If they were neutered/spayed (again only 10% are) then woohoo, cutting down the amount of strays ever so slightly.
Do you know how many strays there are in the US? No, you don't. No one does. THE NUMBER IS TOO HIGH AND TOO QUICKLY CHANGING! According to ASPCA, "It is impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the United States; estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million." Homeless animals OUTNUMBER homeless people 5 to 1, says DoSomething. So why is it a big deal that there are so many stray animals? Well, where do you think these strays go? They go to shelters, and if they aren't adopted, then they (approximately 2.7 MILLION animals per year) are euthanized.
I can not believe these statistics (or lack of one because of the rapid constant increase). It truly makes me sad that most of the problem is us as owners, not being responsible enough to either spay/neuter our animals or just surrendering them because of what ever reason we can think it's okay to do so. (Clearly owner surrendering boggles my mind and that's a whole other tangent that I can go off on).
If you are still unsure about spaying or neutering here are some Pros and Cons that I found:
Benefits to Spay/Neuter:
- Unable to get pregnant or get others pregnant (this IS a pro, because of the many statistics of OVERPOPULATION of animals in America)
- Reduce the amount of animals that are euthanized each year.
- Healthier pets. You reduce a lot of reproductive cancers out there and even (especially) mammary tumors. Even this writer who is completely against spay/neuter says so himself. Other health related reasons to spay/neuter you can find here.
- Save money. You can save money if you spay/neuter your animal. This may seem a little backwards since you have to pay to get them the surgery, but in the long run you are cutting down many cancers and other health issues they might run into. Also you can save a little on their license (spayed/neutered pets are cheaper to license).
- "Less Aggressive." I hesitate to put this on here because I think aggression doesn't always have to do with sexualization (which is the only aggression that spaying and neutering would stop). There are many types and reasons dogs become aggressive, and it's up to the owner to stop it and train the dog appropriately.
- "Improves Behavior." Another one that I hesitate to put on this list, yet so many vets say that it will help. Again, I think your dogs behavior has a lot to do with the owner and how you are training he or she. If you are really having serious problems bring them to a dog trainer.
Disadvantage to Spay/Neuter:
- If your dog is too young, and you get them spayed/neutered it can result in many different problems, which can get controversial. Here are more reasons "pediatric spay/neuter" can cause problems.
- Your animal may gain weight (not become obese), but gain weight.
- Your dog will not be able to reproduce (this can be a disadvantage if you are trying to breed your dog, but again is that really socially responsible? Remember the stats)
- Can affect bone growth. When your dog has it's surgery, hormone production is interrupted and can cause bone growth to be affected.
Know of other Pros/Cons that I should be aware of and add to my list? Comment below!
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