Austin has a pet overpopulation problem!
Seven years ago people were concerned about the overpopulation of unwanted pets in Austin and they tried to lessen the number of adoptable pets being euthanized by passing an ordinance. An ordinance, well more like a desired plan, was passed stating that animals deemed adoptable were not to be euthanized but without funding it was just wishful thinking put on paper. Unfortunately, the number of euthanized animals at the Town Lake Animal Shelter is still very high. Now there is talk of requiring owners to spay or neuter their pets. The question is, will requiring owners to spay and neuter their pets work? It has some problems that need to be worked out but unless your pet is some Grand Champion Pekingese, snip it. Check out this article that was printed in the Austin Chronicle. It's kind of tucked away on the web page so I cut and pasted it for your instant gratification.
Seven years after declaring the dawn of a "no-kill millennium," Austin is still euthanizing more than 12,000 animals each year. One of the causes, say animal rescue and spay-neuter groups, is the lack of an ordinance requiring people to spay and neuter their pets. A draft mandatory spay-neuter ordinance will be debated at the Animal Advisory Commission meeting Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Town Lake Animal Center, 1156 W. Cesar Chavez, 6:30pm.
Sept 16, 2005
P.S. Here is the website where I got that really sad cat picture.
posted by Angelique at 3:28 AM
6 Comments:
On an intellectual basis, spay-neutering is the 'only' policy that makes sense. You can't teach a cat to say no, so it's birth control. Beats killing them.
Now I sound like a hard ass. Is there no happy medium?
You know, I agree with having pets fixed unless owners have solid plans to breed/show their animals. That is more conservative of a view than I normally take, but I hate the thought of animals being put down. :-/
I believe that you should neuter and spay your pet and why stop there I know some people out their that should be neutered too. Some people refuse to neuter or spay their pet because they think it will reduce their dog's masculinity or they want to show their kids the miracle of birth. The problem is trying to find homes for the kittens/puppies. Animal lovers like me already have a zoo of pets and all my friends are likewise. When I did rescue and foster work, the hardest job was trying to find them homes. I couldn't do it. People's ideas about pets either pissed me off or scared me so I hooked up with the Humane Society and they took my rescues if I fostered some kittens for them. I am currently taking a break so I can go to school but tell that to the unfixed animals still breeding. There will always be more kittens/puppies and animal rescue organizations/people are always going to play catch up until something drastic is done.
You're right, of course, it's just tough to admit. My cats are.were both neutered. It just sounds so terrible, thinking of the Nazis, myself.
I think I found the argument you are looking for ma'am.
http://dawnwatch.com/companion_animals.htm
Let me know what you think. DawnWatch is pretty good!!!
I like this website and I agree with it. I fostered kittens till they were old enough to be neutered/spayed which is around 8 weeks or 2 pounds. This is young and there is research being done to see if there are any adverse effects from sterlizing puppies and kittens so young. Even the city shelter is doing it, too. Now, we just have to work on the people who let their pets breed indiscriminately. Thanks for the website.
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