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Alright, so I hope I'm not the only one who has a strong stance on this issue. EVERYONE needs to spay and neuter their pets as soon as they get a chance or allow them to roam around outside.

I'm even against people letting their cat get pregnant so their kids will learn the "miracle of birth." Dogs, for that matter too. Puppies and kittens are cute, we all know that.

But it is really worth all the cuteness to let another animal in the shelter be put down because someone chose a newborn- someone who has never experienced life- over them, who has been through so much and is now impounded because someone else didn't care about them?

Take your kids to the maternity wing in the hospital if you want to teach them the miracle of birth. Adopt a kitten from the shelter or an older cat to give love to an animal that truely deserves it. Let the rambunciousness of a dog escape from the cage that its penned in into your home and warm your heart. Because after all they've been through- neglect, abuse, starvation, abandonment- they still have the ability to love.

Millions of pets die in shelters each year, all because of the ignorance of humans. Please, when you go into the world and have a family and decide on a family pet, go to the shelter and adopt, rather than paying some ridiculous price for a dog because it's a full breed or encouraging others to let their animals have a litter so that you can start with a puppy or kitten.

I challenge all of you to pass this message along and to educate those around you to slow down the rate of death in shelters and encourage you to do something to help, whether it be volunteering at your local pet shelter, giving a speech in your class on the benefits, both physically and healthy, on spaying and neutering, or just letting your friends and family know how much you care. Please let's not add to the problem; let's show the animals we really care.

New addition, so that you don't have to scroll to read it:
How is that messing with someone's gender? My dad's had a vasectomy; is he not a man anymore?

Just because you remove or otherwise "fix" the reproductive organs of an animals does not take away its gender; in fact, now you can have operation to leave the testicles on the dog, and remove the vitals. Or so I've heard.

Other than preventing more litters, the health benefits of neutering/spaying your cat or dog are incredible. Here is an excerpt from http://www.vospca.org/archive/spayneut.html :

Health Benefits of Spaying and Neutering

Spayed animals no longer feel the need to roam to look for a mate. The result is that they stay home and have less chance of being involved in traumatic accidents such as being hit by a car. They also have a much lower incidence of contracting contagious diseases, and get into fewer fights.

In males, neutering decreases the chances of developing prostatic disease and hernias, and eliminates the chances of developing testicular cancer. It also reduces problems with territorial and sexual aggression, inappropriate urination (spraying) and other undesirable male behaviors.

In Females, spaying decreases the incidence of breast cancer (the rate goes down to almost zero if the spaying is done before the first heat cycle!). It eliminates the chance of developing a serious and potentially fatal infection of the uterus experienced by many mature unspayed animals (pyometra). Spay surgery also eliminates the heat cycle and associated mood swings and undesirable behaviors, messy spotting (in dogs) and the attraction of all available males to your yard.

The simple fact is that spaying and neutering greatly increases the lifespan of your pet and increases quality of life as well!

All of our pets are spayed/neutered. Now that she's gone though, everyone in my family wishes that we had let Dog the dog have one litter before we spayed her. I personally am thinking about breeding dogs when I get older. Y'know, not imbreeding them- creating "designer breeds" and capitalizing off of the American population's need for cheap things with fancy names and unreasonable prices! biggrin Like, a Chiuahua with an Irish Wolfhound and see what I get! twisted

I'm hoping that last part was sarcasm... otherwise, the meaning of my post is nil and I see that it did not get through to you at all. stare

It's disturbing that you consider the life of unborn dogs that you're USING for your own personal gain over the millions of abandoned pets in shelters. And you're an animal lover?

Maybe I'm just naive. I don't understand what people are thinking when they put "better" pets, like purebreeds and designer breeds, over animals that deserve another chance. It's disturbing to me.

Well, messing with something's gender seems wrong. I know it's important, and if I ever get any more animals, it'll have to happen, but it bothers me.

How is that messing with someone's gender? My dad's had a vasectomy; is he not a man anymore?

Just because you remove or otherwise "fix" the reproductive organs of an animals does not take away its gender; in fact, now you can have operation to leave the testicles on the dog, and remove the vitals. Or so I've heard.

Other than preventing more litters, the health benefits of neutering/spaying your cat or dog are incredible. Here is an excerpt from http://www.vospca.org/archive/spayneut.html :

Health Benefits of Spaying and Neutering

Spayed animals no longer feel the need to roam to look for a mate. The result is that they stay home and have less chance of being involved in traumatic accidents such as being hit by a car. They also have a much lower incidence of contracting contagious diseases, and get into fewer fights.

In males, neutering decreases the chances of developing prostatic disease and hernias, and eliminates the chances of developing testicular cancer. It also reduces problems with territorial and sexual aggression, inappropriate urination (spraying) and other undesirable male behaviors.

In Females, spaying decreases the incidence of breast cancer (the rate goes down to almost zero if the spaying is done before the first heat cycle!). It eliminates the chance of developing a serious and potentially fatal infection of the uterus experienced by many mature unspayed animals (pyometra). Spay surgery also eliminates the heat cycle and associated mood swings and undesirable behaviors, messy spotting (in dogs) and the attraction of all available males to your yard.

The simple fact is that spaying and neutering greatly increases the lifespan of your pet and increases quality of life as well!

I've never actually heard of people getting a litter of kitties so they can teach their kids "The miracle of birth". Do people actually do that?

when we got our dog we neutered him and when I told my friends they were like "oh my god how could you make him get neutered.. how would you feel? you could buy a female dog make them have doggystyle and sell the puppies, I said No. and walked away...and this is in Australia...remember that. If we over populate with animals all these laws will come in... rabbits are banned from here..along with Eminem...(which is good, I hate him)

Also please make sure if you get a shelter animal, you get it from one that spays / neuters ALL the animals that leave there, not just the one that you are taking home. I do some work for a relatively small local shelter, and we spent all summer filled with litters of kittens after other places failed to ensure all their animals were spayed before rehoming the year before. Same goes for if you are going to donate to / help out at a shelter. Please make sure it is a good one.