My dog days of summer

WARNING: I just read what I wrote, and it came out a bit meaner than I meant it to be. This is probably due to the fact that I am PMS-y. I am going to leave it how it is though because 1) I am still PMSy so even if I re-wrote it, it would be any better and 2) I meant it all, I just wish I has said it better/nicer. So if you still want to read this, you have been warned.

Someone recently brought up Bob Barker and it got me thinking about the mandatory spaying and neutering laws that are being brought up in CA. I had meant to write about this earlier but forgot. I know that the bill already died but too bad, I still want to rant. (And I am confused about the exact laws and what is going on with that, but I don't really care because it is California and you could never get me to live in California anyway, even for a million dollars, I'm talking about the principle.)

Personally, I like the idea of spaying and neutering. There are way too many dogs and cats out there that don't have homes and it makes me sad :-( All the pets my family have owned have been surgically altered so at to prevent more baby animals from entering the world (except our fish, that would just be weird). But, policy wise, I don't think it up should be up to the state to dictate to me what I can and can't do with my dog. If I want a dog with testicles, I should be able to have one. I will also have to be the one to pay the vet bills when the dog gets testicular cancer, or pay to have to carpets replaced because he has marked up the whole house, but that should be my choice.

And I don't think a law requiring s/n will really do that much. In most cities, there are already strong financial incentives for law abiding citizens to spay and neuter in addition to the very reasonable reasons the ASPCA informs us of. The people who don't s/n are the same ones who don't register their animal. They take their chances that the police will not find out that they have unregistered pets because they believe that the police will be otherwise occupied catching robbers and keeping Lindsay Lohan off our streets. So we are going to force the people that take care of their pets, and maybe do some knowledgeable, but hobby level, breeding, to fix their animals? Even if you think it is a great idea to spay and neuter every single dog and cat in CA, it shouldn't be government's business to make that happen.

On a related note, I also don't agree with no-kill shelters, despite the fact that I volunteer with a no-kill organization. Actually, it is because I work with a no-kill organization. I go out to the shelter and pick up dogs and take them to PetSmart so they can be adopted. The dogs that we take there are almost always really great dogs. Sometimes they have little problems, like pulling on the lead or a tendency to eat their owner's pet hamster* but I don't think that should be a reason for a dog to have to die, especially when it is just laziness on the part of whoever owned it before and a few weeks of love and discipline will help a lot. But we find them new homes and when they get adopted, it makes me really happy. And when an new owner comes back a few weeks or months later with their dog to show everyone how great he/she is and what they have learned, it makes me really really happy. I am glad that we were able to take a dog from the pound where it would have been put to sleep and turn it into someones beloved pet.

But there are other dogs to. The ones that we don't take to PetSmart because they couldn't handle it. The ones who aren't really adoptable. I see them, week after week, at the shelter, knowing that they will probably stay there till they die. In a cage, or tied up outside, with almost no interaction with other dogs or humans. They just sit there, getting less and less adoptable. What kinda life is that? I think it would be better for them to be put down. Don't get me wrong, the shelter I work with is great and the organizers and other volunteers are able to do amazing work, that is why I spend my time there. But you can't save everyone.

Before I volunteered for these last few months, if someone would have asked me if I like the idea of a no-kill shelter I would have said yes, because who wants to think about killing puppies and kittens? I wanted to think I was a baby animal lover, not hater. But I don't think animals should have to suffer because I want to feel good about myself. That is really just selfish.

Now, I know that a few of you will be thinking, even if you don't leave a comment, that I must be a cruel horrible person because I think we should let irresponsible owners' animals make babies all over the place and when we can't do anything with them, to kill them. And if you want to think that to feel better about yourself and your own love of mandatory laws and no kill shelters, go right ahead. But unless you got up early yesterday and spent almost 10 hours hanging out with a pack of smelly (cute but definitely smelly) dogs, I don't want to hear about it.




*(side note to Sasha's previous owner: if your dog had eaten a mouse you would probably have been thrilled, how was she supposed to know that the small furry thing running around your house was your pet and not a pest, why get rid of a well trained, adorable dog just because of that one little issue?)