Spay Or Neuter Your Pets!

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah, it is sad, but then again there's not much you can really do about it. As long as disney keeps making cute films about bambi or baby rabbits and kittens, as long as celebrities keep toy dogs as fashion items, as long as people continue to not think of the long-term consequences of their actions or let their emotions get the better of them- there will always be an unwanted animal problem.
As the human race expands, so will pet populations. I don't think it is wrong to breed your pets as long as you do it very responsibly, based on lots of research, care, good situation & environment and foresight etc.
Most animals that end up in shelters are mutts, old animals, strays and deseased/sick animals (there are quite a few owners that faced with mounting vet bills, cannot give their pets the proper treatments and either abandon the pet or take it to a shelter, where it will most likely be euthanised etc).
The actual act of putting down pets is not cruel, but the problems in our societies that lead to these animals breeding, multiplying, and ending up in a shelter are. The vast majority of shelters are vastly overstocked with animals, which is why there is such a pressing need to put them down- i mean, where are 25,000 or so worth or dogs from a single cities shelters going to go?

But to be honest, its hardly as bad as the horrors of battery/intensive farming. You should think twice before you next eat your next KFC or McDonalds meal, if this sort of shelter buisness disturbs you.

Being one who is myself concerned about the environment, the issue i am very concerned about is the environmental impact of the rapidly increasing pet populations of our countries- cats are efficient predators, as single cat can kill over 24 small animals in a day. This may be a mouse, or it could be a critically endangered species of bird... They say that the domestic cat population in England could be having as devastating effect on wildlife as modern farming methods are.
When people lose or abandon their pets, or vice versa, many animals like cats retreat to the countryside where there is often much larger expanses of terotory space and things to prey on.
To be honest, my advice would be that if you want a dog or cat at all, you should adopt one. You'd even be suprised at the amount of pure breeds that can end up in shelters as well. If you don't want any animals, then why not donate money to a local pet sanctuary or shelter? These places are at least some of the few places that are trying to seriously tackle these issues in our societies.

 

[KathyM]

Great post Tokis, just wanted to pick at one bit (sorry):

Most animals that end up in shelters are mutts, old animals, strays and deseased/sick animals (there are quite a few owners that faced with mounting vet bills, cannot give their pets the proper treatments and either abandon the pet or take it to a shelter, where it will most likely be euthanised etc).

The majority of pets in shelters are young, healthy animals. Yes strays are a huge percentage of these, but they could be very homeable with proper assessment etc. The problem we face in this country is that people see all "shelters" as the same. But there are council run pounds and then there are "proper" rescues.

Council pounds take stray dogs from the dog warden, do not always health check or vaccinate and do not assess (or neuter) dogs. Only a very small percentage of dogs in council pounds are "hand ins" with any form of history. Dogs are rehomed from most council pounds with no form of home check, just sold to whoever has the asking price. Many "proper" rescues strive to take dogs from these death rows and assess them, foster them out and eventually rehome.

If people want a well rounded "safe" dog, we have to help them realise the pound is not the place to go. Even the most well meaning people think that adopting a dog directly from death row is saving a life and the best way to go (and that's very understandable), but there are safer alternatives.

By homing from a rescue that take dogs from the pounds and assess them, they are getting an assessed dog and freeing up a place in rescue for another death row dog. This helps avoid the bouncing ball scenario of those that adopt an unassessed unknown quantity from the pound only to find out they're not suitable for their family, and having to return it (and unknowingly potentially sealing their fate).

 

[Bloo]

You'd even be suprised at the amount of pure breeds that can end up in shelters as well.

The majority of pets in shelters are young, healthy animals. Yes strays are a huge percentage of these, but they could be very homeable with proper assessment etc.

The difference in shelters and who they are run by is huge.

But one thing that struck me when I first came into contact with shelters and started working at the RSPCA was the amount of young and purebred animals there. It really surprised me.

So I will always encourage people to look at shelters as a first port of call. However - there are some things that will put people off:

Understandably shelters have the be very careful who they rehome an animal to. But in some places those home inspection can be gruelling and unreasonable (in my opinion).

In most cases the pet is never ever yours - and will always belong to the shelter. Yes in the vast majority of cases they will not remove the pet unless they feel there is just reason to do so, but still - the knowledge of unexpected calls to check on you is not nice.

In such cases with strict shelters, it's so much easier to pick up a local paper and get a kitten or puppy free or for a few pounds.

I'm not saying keeping pets is not a great responsibility and there are millions of people who never deserve to keep a pet - but when things are made so difficult and strict people often look at much easier alternatives.

 

[KathyM]

Well in contrast to that, we've never bought a dog out of the free ads or from a breeder, all of ours have been rescues. We've only ever come up against one problem and that is the kids, but all the rescues were lenient considering how well my children have been brought up with animals. When restrictions on rehoming are set it's to protect the animal from "bouncing", and I've never seen unrealistic or unreasonable "rules" set. I have seen blanket rules set that have been difficult (like some rescues' stance on not rehoming to families with children) but these have always been guidelines and not hard and fast. Some other blanket rules I've actually agreed with to an extent (eg. full time workers) but again these have worked around the needs of the dog, nothing more. I have never been pestered at home, I've never had the issue of a dog not being "ours", and it wouldn't really matter if that were the case, rescues don't want to have dogs come back to them if you're a good home. And all my dogs have been rescues, I wouldn't have it any other way as long as there are suitable dogs for our family in rescue.

On the myth that you have to go to a breeder for a pedigree dog/pup, I've had the joy of 5 rescues pedigrees in this family, one of which came to us as a young pup (Dharma the bullmastiff). They are there if you're willing to hang on for a bit - although we were lucky in that she went up for rehoming the day we started looking *lol*. I'm not against anyone going to a good breeder - if that's what's right for your family that's a good thing, but to use the "there's none in rescue" excuse is unfair I feel.

 

[LisaLQ]

I'm of the firm belief that rescues are only considered unreasonable by people who aren't really that dedicated to saving a dog's life. After all - if you really wanted that rescue pet, you'd do what they suggested to improve your chances. Whether it's fixing a fence, arranging a dog walker, or other minor adjustments to your life, it's no biggie to someone who really wants to offer a responsible caring home. Yes there's the odd rescue who has a blanket ban on workers/families with young kids/disabled people/those on benefits - but for every one that does, there's several more who are willing to treat each case as an individual, and work from there.

A home check isn't to see if someone is a good housewife, earning thousands a week, immaculately clean etc - it's to see if you are committed to keeping a dog for it's entire life, understand what that responsibility involves, and capable of adjusting to a new family member, and their needs. Also to have a peek around to see if your garden is safe, whether it would be easy for your dog to be to escape through the front door, and things like that. If it means having a phone call now and again or even a home visit once in a blue moon to see how you're getting on, why would that be a problem? If someone is genuine, they have nothing to hide

And I've had Sky for *tots up in head* 5 years now, and the most "hassle" we've had was a "How's she doing?" when we rang them

And yes, spay and neuter your pets as soon as they're able to!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You'd even be suprised at the amount of pure breeds that can end up in shelters as well.

The majority of pets in shelters are young, healthy animals. Yes strays are a huge percentage of these, but they could be very homeable with proper assessment etc.

The difference in shelters and who they are run by is huge.

But one thing that struck me when I first came into contact with shelters and started working at the RSPCA was the amount of young and purebred animals there. It really surprised me.

So I will always encourage people to look at shelters as a first port of call. However - there are some things that will put people off:

Understandably shelters have the be very careful who they rehome an animal to. But in some places those home inspection can be gruelling and unreasonable (in my opinion).

In most cases the pet is never ever yours - and will always belong to the shelter. Yes in the vast majority of cases they will not remove the pet unless they feel there is just reason to do so, but still - the knowledge of unexpected calls to check on you is not nice.

In such cases with strict shelters, it's so much easier to pick up a local paper and get a kitten or puppy free or for a few pounds.

I'm not saying keeping pets is not a great responsibility and there are millions of people who never deserve to keep a pet - but when things are made so difficult and strict people often look at much easier alternatives.

Yes i remember absoluetly years ago when i was a kid i went to an RSPCA centre to check out what sort of animals they had when we were looking for some new olds after our old ones passed away. One thing that did strike me was how "competetive" people were for the animals there, yet there seemed a large amount of animals being put down none the less.
When you selected an animal, the first they did was take down all your details (like where you lived, what sort of accomodation you lived in, what sort of job you had and hours etc)- this was fair enough, although there weren't any house inspections. The next thing that happened was we were told how many people were trying for the pet and we were put on a waiting list.
The first time we were on the waiting list for weeks before anyone told us the animals we had been interested in had been taken (since we lived on a farm, we soon decided we could fit more than a few cats- i remember i wanted a rabit at the time, and there was a dog as well we were interested in). Some of the dogs there had over 7 people wanting to adopt them.
So yeah...A month or so later my mum went back to take another look for some cats. When she arived there she met another farmer in the car park taking 2 cats in. He said he had a cat breeding problem on his farm and had found great difficulty in catching them, and all of the cats were pretty much feral. He had two of the last cats in a box- they were both going to be euthanised because they were not tame enough to rehome by the RSPCA's standards.

My mum took pity on the cats and we adopted them then and there- they were incredibly feral though ! The first thing they did after we realised them was run up into the barns, where they pretty much lived there for two years (i remember having to walk up to the barns every day in the winter to leave catfood for them to eat). This wasn't a problem though as we got them to be proper working cats and not cuddly pets, they were there to deal with the rat and mouse problem we had at the time.
The cats made very good exterminators- now days they hang around the main house and although they are far tamer now days, but are not very cuddly cats still and will not let you handle them, but they do come up to you for attention and stuff every now and then. Both are females, one we named Whisper and the other Future.
We spayed them pretty much as soon as we got them as we couldn't risk such cats breeding- my mum owns numerous cottages on the farm that she rents out, we often get people staying in them who own cats so the chances of cats breeding is quite high.
The third cat we adopted many years ago was actually abandoned on our farm by some previous tennants in one of the cottages. It took quite a while before we realised he was a stray because they left his collar on him ! We soon adopted him after we realised he was abandoned, he passed away a year or two ago from old age. He was named Chris and was a very lovely tame cat.


The thing i did agree with the RSPCA centre i went to all those years ago was they neutered/spayed their animals soon after arival, so if they were rehomed they wouldn't breed and end up with more unwanted animals at the centre. I did think their standards were too harsh though sometimes, there was such competeticion for adopting animals there, but none the less they would only leave the cuddliest and youngest animals have any chance of living and being rehomed.

From a fish keeping point of veiw- i am currently trying to adopt fish right now if i can rather than buy them. Fish in a way end up with similar problems of being unwanted, although usuallly unwanted fish get euthanised by their owners when their owners don't want them (flushing down toilets still seems to be common practice)- so far i have adopted an opaline gourami, RTBS, common plec, numerous guppys & platies, cories, a molly and two goldfish and hopefully another 7 goldfish on the way when i get my pond built .

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Great post Tokis, just wanted to pick at one bit (sorry):

Most animals that end up in shelters are mutts, old animals, strays and deseased/sick animals (there are quite a few owners that faced with mounting vet bills, cannot give their pets the proper treatments and either abandon the pet or take it to a shelter, where it will most likely be euthanised etc).

The majority of pets in shelters are young, healthy animals. Yes strays are a huge percentage of these, but they could be very homeable with proper assessment etc. The problem we face in this country is that people see all "shelters" as the same. But there are council run pounds and then there are "proper" rescues.

Council pounds take stray dogs from the dog warden, do not always health check or vaccinate and do not assess (or neuter) dogs. Only a very small percentage of dogs in council pounds are "hand ins" with any form of history. Dogs are rehomed from most council pounds with no form of home check, just sold to whoever has the asking price. Many "proper" rescues strive to take dogs from these death rows and assess them, foster them out and eventually rehome.

If people want a well rounded "safe" dog, we have to help them realise the pound is not the place to go. Even the most well meaning people think that adopting a dog directly from death row is saving a life and the best way to go (and that's very understandable), but there are safer alternatives.

By homing from a rescue that take dogs from the pounds and assess them, they are getting an assessed dog and freeing up a place in rescue for another death row dog. This helps avoid the bouncing ball scenario of those that adopt an unassessed unknown quantity from the pound only to find out they're not suitable for their family, and having to return it (and unknowingly potentially sealing their fate).

I think it depends on what sort of pet you are looking for and the time and money you are willing to dedicate to it- i think there are also some shelters/rescue centre's with better reputations than others as well. True, you may not know entirely what you are getting when you rescue an animal, but most unrecognised problems are not too serious in general though.
I would be most worries about behavioral/psychological issues in animals, as these are often far more difficult to treat than physical ones. In general though, when you buy any animal you should always be prepared for vet bills- i was shocked at how expensive it was when a friend of mine had to treat his dog for a skin infection and could barely afford to. Even if your pet is perfectly healthy, anything can happen, so always make sure you have a decent amount of money tucked away in the bank for these sorts of situations just in case.
When my mum adopted our two cats, they were very feral, not tame in the slightest, but this wasn't a problem because we got them as working cats and not cuddly pets. For another person though, they would have been completely out of the question- even now they are not really tame.

I would also take into consideration the environmental impact of keeping cats- the reason why i don't keep cats is because there are already so many in our area (i don't its really fair to keep cats in towns though, they are really suited to farms because they need large terotories- cats can be very vicious towards each other when kept in too closer quarters, there's also an increased risk of car accidents and things in populated area's). The second reason is their predatory impact- i have seen so many cats carrying dead birds around to trying to prey on them- when i went to a neighbours party early in spring, their cat brought in a finch half alive .

 

[Bloo]

Even if your pet is perfectly healthy, anything can happen, so always make sure you have a decent amount of money tucked away in the bank for these sorts of situations just in case.

This is 99% of the time not needed if you make the effort of a little investment in insurance. It can be as little as a few pounds of month depending on age, size and type of dog - and generally very little for a cat.

In most cases they will fully insure an animal from a rescue centre etc. if it has no history to trace exclusions back to.

In my opinion it is absolutely vital that all animals are insured. And even though I'm not a vet nurse anymore but can still get most treatments & medications at cost - I have insurance for my cat. And in fact most veterinary nurses do exactly the same and have all their animals insured as well.

 

[KathyM]

Completely agree - Dharma is insured, and luckily before we discovered her allergy.

 

[grahamsokel]

well no doubt people are going to jump on me but i am one of the ones who dont insure my pets.The only ones i have insured is the horses.I always used to insure till i did a check and found over the years i had spent almost £14,000 on insurance and had never made a claim.I have for the last 8 years put the money that i would spend on insurance into a seperate account that is just for vets bills and i have enough money in that account to cover any vets bills that i could possibly be faced with the difference being it is still my money and not an insurance companys

 

[red-devil0602]

that is a really good idea to save the money, i am crap at saving so opted for insurance and with a loopy boxer pup flying around we need it, i only pay £10 a month

 

[Nina]

I must admit I am with Graham on the whole insurance thing.

I looked into insuringmy two cats. If they were "normal" cats they would have only been about £4 -5 per month each but as they are purebreed Persians the cheapest I could get the insurance for was £12 each. I worked out that by keeping this money seperate I would have enough to cover their bills. Plus I get the interest on my money in the bank as well.

My problem with shelters/rescues is when I looked into getting a new kitty cat from there most places were reluctant to home to me as I live in a flat. This is despite the fact that I already have two cats living in my "unsuitable" home.

But back to the whole spay/neuter thing. All my animals have been spayed or neutered and I will continue to do this as each new little fur ball comes to live with me.

 

[Bloo]

Unfortunately when you deal with something like a broken leg or spinal injury / pins or MRI's or even long term diabetic medication etc. etc. (the list is endless) the little you save will just never cover the thousands and thousands of pounds the above can cost you.

Do you know how many animals we had to regularly put to sleep just because people cannot afford any of the above ? Young otherwise healthy animals that could be fixed. But not everyone can churn out a few thousand pounds in the blink of an eye.

Until I became a vet nurse, I didn't realise the extent of any of this. Amongst the normal spays, neuters etc. we dealt without countless of serious cases and extensive surgeries on a daily and weekly basis.

So unless you really have a kitty of several thousands stashed away, or you're really rich and several thousand pounds is small change, or can live with the guilt of having to decide to put your pet to sleep because you couldn't afford a several thousand pound treatment - I'd fork out the £10 odd a month thank you very much.

 

[Synirr]

I completely agree with KathyM about the differences between council run pounds and proper rescues... I'm just beginning to see the benefits of adopting from a rescue myself, and will be doing so in the near future. All my past adoptions were from the local council run pound, and for cats they only do the most basic tests for deadly contagious diseases and keep them in quarantine a while, then it's up for adoption they go, and they don't do much of a check on the future owners at all, just a little paperwork to make sure you will spay/neuter if they are too young to have it done immediately (they stay at the shelter if they are old enough and you pick them up after the surgery.) Needless to say, my cat had ear mites and worms when we got her . Not that that was unexpected. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I think the thorough checking the rescues do is a small price to pay for a healthy, emotionally balanced pet, particularly since in some cases it has been fostered for a while and you can be told something about its personality and even arrange to visit it multiple times before deciding for sure if it's the one.

 

[Fawke]

I tried about 9 months ago to adopt a dog. Myself and my partner have lived with dogs before, the children are growing up (nearly 6 and 7) and we felt the time was right.

We tried our local re homing centre and they said no because of a rule that they dont re home to families with children under 7. We felt we had so much to offer a Dog. We are an outdoors type of family who spend weekends rain or shine bike riding, kite flying, walking ect. My partner doesnt work and would have time to give the dog lots of undivided attention and training when the children are at school. We tried to argue our case and were asked "what are you going to do when the dog bites your child because they jumped on or pulled it?" We were disgusted! they had never met our polite, well behaved, loving children and were making such a false assumption. they are both used to being around dogs. they even said if we split up we would return the dog! pointed out we wouldnt be returning the childrn anywhere, why any other member of the family!

the whole idea got put on the back burner, as we just dont really know what to do. many centres wont re home out of area as they cant spend time and money doing long distance home checks. We would also want to make many visits to a place to make sure we made the right choice before bringing a dog home, just how far do you travel. Each week we scan over the ads in the paper but it just goes against every instinct to pay somebody for adding to the problem of un wanted dogs.

so everyone, you obviously have a lot of knowledge in this area, 2 adults, 2 children who really would like to extend their family, have a 3 bed house with garden. any suggestions?