Just wait until he learns to open cabinets and helps himself to toys and catnip.

Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association has issued a press release opposing the proposal. You can download the word doc at this link:

http://tinyurl.com/6dyctt

it’s 3 pages

I personally feel the answer to overpopulation is education, not forcing responsible pet owners to S/N. And let’s get real, only responsible pet owners will obey the law. Who’s got the time and people power to enforce it? We have a few million pets here in NYC and I imagine there’s just as many in LA. Here, they only enforce leash laws when it becomes a “problem”. Same with licensing and Rabies vacs. So getting responsible pet owners to S/N is just not a solution, imo. Most do anyway, so how does that cut down on overpopulation? Even if we had gotten the MSN on pet shops, I don’t think it would have helped a whole lot as people who buy to breed, would only have to go outside of city limits or the internet. I do think it would have closed down more than a few pet stores though :)

One thing that would help with overpopulation is less limit, breed and size restrictions. Especially now with many people having to move and give up their pets because they can’t find affordable housing with them. I’m over the “limit” in many places and my dog is “too big” for a lot of places also. She’s all of 47lbs.

I would start looking at stats in places where they have MSN and do your own comparisons. I’ve seen them skewed both ways, so I go straight to the AC stats etc. I also look for trends and lately, I think the housing crisis is having an impact in certain areas, so that needs to be looked at when looking at trends.

One problem with trying to regulate the irresponsible sources such as puppy mills and pet shops is that they have money, and money talks. The pet shops managed to get themselves off our MSN bill at the last minute. So now, the only folks (iirc) who are required to S/N are the responsible folks. Shelters and rescues who were already doing it. It did stop one major shelter from bringing in van loads of adoptable unneutered pets every week for mobile adoptions. They didn’t take the pets back if the owners no longer wanted them, so we would get them in thew city shelter system. Eventually they got with the program and started working within the no-kill guidelines here. Unfortunately, they still don’t take the pets back after a couple months. Right about the time they all become rambunctious teens and the owners are going nuts. Luckily, we have more help in place for them now.

The pet owning public at large doesn’t have the big bucks and has to work harder to fight MSN, so easier to lay the responsibility on them, is how I’m guessing some of these politicians see it.

As far as I’m concerned, I don’t need anyone telling me to/when to neuter my pets. Especially clueless politicians ;)

We may or may not be a world-class city, but this year there’s been a world-class outbreak of school age kids being murdered by other kids. I certainly hope that law enforcement uses their energy working on that problem rather than someone who doesn’t want to neuter their dog.

Forced spay-neuter laws do not address the problems. They “feel good” but cause more harm than good.

Not to mention, I firmly believe that spaying/neutering is a medical decision that should be discussed between a pet owner and a veterinarian.

The International Society for Animals Rights “model” forced spay-neuter proposal is a model proposal for the elimination of all pets.

The problem I keep running into is “enforcement”. If enforcement
is to be against the “public”, such laws have no more effectiveness
than zoning ordinances — effective against the highly visible and
in responding to neighbor complaints.

But why can’t such a law be enforced against breeders (and importers)? (I ask that seriously as I lack a breeder’s viewpoint or experience.) Anyone wanting to sell (or even give away) anything
must make themselves “visible” — and it seems that visibility,
coupled with their finite numbers, could make enforcement practical.

When we’re killing around 5 million companion animals each year,
doesn’t it make sense to try to limit supply at its original source?
(Obviously this would do nothing about the feral cat problem — but
one doesn’t need a “complete” solution to be useful.) Is there
nothing that can be done to regulate the irresponsible sources
(including the unlicensed sources placing classifieds) without unduly
impacting the responsible sources?

What I’m trying to get a handle on is whether the issue of mandatory
spay/neuter is a matter of “practicality” or “will”.