No excuse not to spay and neuter your pets!

Alright I have to get on my soapbox today. It was brought to my attention that an incident occurred recently where there are two small dogs living together in the same household. One attacked the other and cause severe damage and injury to the other one. Guess why? At least guess why the onwers though it happened.

They blame it on the fact the attaking dog is a bitch in heat. Something triggered the attack but the root cause is because the bitch is not her normal, tolerant self while in heat. The vicitm dog is fine and recovering nicely but at what cost to his or her mental stability towards the other dog, not to mention to the owners who had pay a hefty sum to their vet to repair the damage and provide mediciations?

What's the lesson here people? Spay and neuter your animals immediately upon receiving them or as soon as safely possible depending on their young age. This incident just another reason to get this responsible act done!

Let's see what other reasons could there possibly be?

1. Health risks with pregnancy and birthing

• try watching a birthing video first and see if you still want to go down this road
• the mother may need a cesarean section

2. Even one litter sounds like a good idea until considering what adding 12 new puppies to your family really means

• you and you alone are responsible for the entire litter
• can you guarantee quality home for all the puppies/kittens?
• if not are you prepared to own more than one dog/cat afterwards?

3. The cost of the extra veterinary care

• check ups, shots, and deworming-for 12 dogs
• the puppies may need substantial veterinary care

4. The state of current dog and cat overpopulation epidemic

• one female dog and her offspring can produce more than 4,000 offspring in only 7 years.
• for cats, that number is more like 400,000
• only one puppy or kitten of every nine born will find homes, the rest will likely be euthanized

5. Offers several key health benefits for the animal

• spaying your pet before her first estrous cycle, or "heat," greatly reduces her chances of developing breast cancer and eliminates the risk of uterine and ovarian cancers
• neutering your male can increase your dog's longetivity; why did Spot cross the road? He loved the ladies on the other side.
• 80 percent of dogs hit by vehicles every year are unneutered males
• testicular cancer and prostate problems commonly afflict unneutered male dogs
• neutered males are far less aggressive because they are less territorial (apparently so are female dogs)

There are really not many excuses to not spay your pet. Any shelter and most reputable breeders will require that you agree to have the dog spayed or neutered. Even if your have an older adult dog or cat, it is never too late to spay or neuter. The health benefits decrease the longer you wait, but a little benefit is better than none at all.

So to those who say "it's not natural" or "I want to breed my dog ", I say grab a brain, get realistic and be a responsible pet owner...NOW!

Pardon my venting but I'm quite passionate about this subject and the recent news of this attack has really made me feel the need to get this message out to anyone who will read it.