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I'm in complete agreement with mandatory spay/neutering and have long agreed with Gabriel's assessment that someone who can't afford to have their pet fixed isn't likely to be able to afford necessary medical treatment, as well as yearly check-ups, shots, dental care and good quality food. And if nothing else, a fixed pet is generally a happier pet who is content to spend time with their people and isn't straining at the metaphorical leash for a chance to, ya know, breed.
Originally Posted by Uncle David;2435170;
I love it when you talk like that Rattus.
Isn't that just a great way of writing?
Maybe the solution would be to charge hefty fees for people who utilize a shelter instead of trying to place their pet into another home if they are unable to keep it. I'm sure there are pets who are already spayed/neutered who wind up at shelters and who have to be put down due to overcrowding.
The reason people don't keep their pets should be looked at. If the pet is unruly, perhaps have a low cost training program. If the person has health issues, maybe there can be organizations in place to help place the pet in another home. If someone shows up at a shelter with a pet because of these reasons, maybe the shelter can redirect the person to another organization before taking the pet.
Don't allow people to advertise puppies/kittens for sale or for free in any newspaper unless that person is a breeder with the proper licenses. I don't know, I'm just throwing out ideas. Some are probably not so good but there are going to be people who don't get their pet fixed even if it's mandatory and there will have to be money in the state budget for resources on how to crack down on this.
Keep throwing out ideas ACF. We'll all put out heads together and solve this problem!
I can see some problems with your first solution. Charging people who bring their animals to a shelter would just mean more people just abandoning their pets willy-nilly. At our shelter, there is no cost to turn in an animal. Yet we still have many people who move every year and just leave their pet outside to fend for itself. (a college town here). And there are very few animals turned in who are already fixed. Like maybe 2 out of 10.
I think many who turn their pets in are due to behavior/training/cost issues.
Two things... first of all I have a female cat who has kittens a few times a year. I am not irresponsible or unable to pay vet fees. I grew up with a breeding female and love the cycle of kittens. If I am ever unable to find good homes for my babies I would get her fixed immediately. I usually have more people who want them than I have kittens. Secondly, I looked into a program in Ohio (to find my mom a dog) where prisoners train dogs who are in the pound because of bad habits. It is a reward program for the prisoners and the dogs are well-behaved and able to find homes. If you have a program like this near you, support it! From what I read on the internet, it has positive effects for everyone involved. I came here to tell about the butterfly release I saw at Relay for Life last night... 150 released all at once. Pretty spectacular.
I'll bet that butterfly release was beautiful. I wouldn't mind seeing it, but not in person. Insects, and critters like that creep me out. In that way, I am quite the sissy.
The prison in a neighboring county does that program too. It seems like a win-win solution for all.
Respectfully Gutmutter: I've no doubt you make sure your kitties go to good homes. But my question is: are they altered? Or do they go on to have litters of their own? There are so many cats in shelters now, living in cages for months upon months. I just don't understand.
I feel bad saying this but we've turned in a couple of puppies to the local humane society. Why? Because we live out in the country and people love to come out here and dump their dogs. ESPECIALLY if they are hunting dogs that don't have the scent or don't produce the results they want. You see tons of those poor things roaming around at the end of hunting season. My husband volunteers at a shelter in town and we take them in because I have allergies and cannot have a dog or a cat.
So rather than see them become feral or starve to death or get run over, we pick them up and take them in. The center is a no-kill one and every one of those pups have been adopted (we check!)
I understand what you're doing, and you really shouldn't feel bad. I just can't believe someone could just get into a vehicle and leave the poor things out there. I have a few ideas of what I would like to do to those people.
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