Mandatory Spay/Neuter, PETA and HSUS -- The Real Story

Over the last several years there has been an increasing wave of proposed bills that seek to restrict the rights of all breeders.

I am a huge believer in responsible dog breeding, ownership and "ban the deed" as opposed to any sort of mandatory legislation.

For example, Calgary animal shelters have the lowest “kill rate” (that is, the percentage of animals in the shelters which are euthanized) in North America. They have no "mandatory this or that" legislation but a very active ownership education program.

There are problems but they need to be addressed individually. Addressed as a blanket statement the problem won't get handled, just moved out of that particular city, county, state or nation.

What all this mandatory legislation does is ban the honest, usually hobby, breeder. This is the person who does all necessary tests on his or her dogs, screens owners carefully, is always willing to take a dog back and truly cares about the future of his or her breed.

Last year there was a tidal wave of proposed legislation basically seeking to criminalize all breeding. Very little of it passed because it was flawed and cost prohibitive, but it required a great deal of time to take on each separate proposal, letting the lawmakers know the actual facts.

The people behind these proposals depend on the shock of the few horror stories to blind the dog owning public to the quiet and caring work done by the breeders who ensure that future pet owners will have well behaved, healthy dogs that look and act like their breed.

These breeders will be put out of business by such draconian legislation. I really wonder about the individuals behind this. Do they want us to have pets?

Or maybe they think we would be better off in a world where no one ever owned an animal?

HSUS and PETA both decry abuses, yet HSUS doesn’t run a single shelter and most of its money goes to lobbyists. PETA’s shelters have a kill rate double or even triple a regular shelter. So please think twice and look carefully at all organizations claiming to work for “animal rights”.

Because some of them are working hard to deny you the right to ever own a pet again.

Think about the work your dog's breeder has done to ensure that you have a happy and healthy animal that looks and acts like his breed.

If you have kept in touch -- and I hope you have -- give them a call or send them an email with a couple of pictures sometime. It'll make their day!