Get your animals fixed???

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I've always been confused why they suggest to get your animals fixed (dogs cats mostly) yet, at the pet store , pets are EXPENSIVE. If they needed to be fixed, (for a lot of reasons but the main one being overpopulation) why are they so dang expensive?

You'd think if there was some sort of pan-america pet overpopulation problem, thatn pets would be dirt cheap no?

[TomCat]

I've nebver looked at it quite that way troy. We should start by fixin people first. There's seriously an overpopulation issue with them, and they're still wayy too expensive to buy as well. :grin

[The_Dark]

I only get my pets fixed when they break.

[Ginevra]

Pets at the pet store are typically sold "whole" because to take a dog to a dog show or to certain competitions which would measure confirmation of the animal, the dog cannot be altered in any way. Although, if I wanted a dog that was show quality, I'd go to a reputable breeder and not to a pet store.

Many people are under the misconception that animals WANT to be parents. A bitch or a queen WANTS to have offspring to nuture. Or that they MUST breed at least once so that the animal has the chance to experience parenthood.

[Onyx]

I have serious ethical problems with breeding more cats and dogs. (sorry to any dog or cat breeders out there).

There are just waaay too many beautiful animals being put to sleep every single day. The whole uppity "breed" thing bugs me. Why not adopt an animal that needs a home rather than create new ones?

(and by the way, getting an animal from the humane society is cheap and I've gotten some very sweet, intelligent cats there).

[paradox]

if only i could find a way to get wifeys parakeets fixed... (kidding...well, sorta...) :fear

[Ginevra]

I don't have a problem at all with ethical breeders. These are ones that work to improve their specialised breed through breeding and education about their breed(s).

I do have a problem with some of the types of breedings that I've seen, such as a Teacup Poodle. In MY opinion, this is not bettering the breed but making it more delicate and weaker, which is a whole 'nother thread in itself.

I've know many people who will swear by their pet shelter animal. I still prefer that people that are simply looking for a family pet go to the pet shelter.

I adopted a dog once from a humane shelter in Minneapolis. Long story short . . . . the dog had been surrendered for "barking too much in an apartment". Since I had a house, it was no big deal. Through trial, error and first hand experience, we found that the dog had been abused, neglected and who knows what all. The dog was such a biter I was getting bitten, on average, once a day for about two months. I tried every way I knew and tried to have as much patience as I could but this dog would just turn around and bite for any reason he felt necessary even when there wasn't one.

I felt sorry for him but my hands were tired of being bitten and I was afraid for my toy poodle's safety as well.

[Amerist]

I've always been confused why they suggest to get your animals fixed (dogs cats mostly) yet, at the pet store , pets are EXPENSIVE.  If they needed to be fixed, (for a lot of reasons but the main one being overpopulation) why are they so dang expensive?

You'd think if there was some sort of pan-america pet overpopulation problem, thatn pets would be dirt cheap no?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, there is a pan-America pet overpopulation problem. In fact, last year over 500,000 pets were euthanized. Think that's a staggering number? It's only one of the few that I face every day at work. The number of No Kill shelters in the U.S. is outstripped greatly by those that are, primarily because very shelters have the volunteers to take care of the scores of intakes that they see every week. We even have a poster illustrating how quickly a cat population can explode out of control.

Now, even if these numbers aren't enough to make people understand how important it is to have their pets fixed, they should be aware that there are some medical benefits from doing so. Cats and dogs who are spayed early in life have greatly reduced chances of developing reproductive cancers and other disorders; they generally live happier lives because they don't have to deal with those pesky reproductive cycles when they are being cared for mostly hand-and-foot by good owners; and certain behavior issues related to breeding and "seasonalness" can be curbed early.

There are even some frequently asked questions available on our Spay & Neuter section.

I would end this here, but I would like to leave everyone with one last plea: please adopt. Don't buy a dog or cat from a pet store.

Puppy mills are growing in popularity because animals can be sold in droves to the young and naïve who are willing to fork over large sums of dough to buy their themselves or their family a new pet. This gives greater incentive for breeders to produce scores of puppies for sale through pet stores. They are rarely well treated, they are herded like cattle, they often become sick—some infections common to new pets come from poor conditions before arriving at a pet store, and poor quarantine afterwards.

Sitting at a shelter near thee is a kitten or puppy, brought by people who were unable to care for them, who might be facing the final days of their lives. Adopting doesn’t mean having to get an older or middle aged dog or cat…if what thou desire is a youngster.

Yes, there’s a lot of propaganda, information, and pleas to the public out there on these subjects. I’ve already included several links that leads directly to the pages that I personally develop on a day-to-day basis. I would urge anyone who is going to get a pet to think about adopting, prowl the local shelters, and not give their money to the puppy and kitten mills to go and instead save a loving pet’s life.

Kyt Dotson, PETS 911 Webmaster

Other resorces from people we work with:

Doris Day Animal Foundation (SPAY DAY USA, recently past.)

The Humane Society of the United States (...this is an interior link because their main page jumps to an anti-Baby Seal hunt page, which doesn't have much to do with my adoption and spay/neuter information.)

Edited April 7, 2005 by Amerist

[Fierce Critter]

As the owner of 11 animals, I have mixed feelings on breeders.

Our Oakley is a purebred German Shepherd. He is the ONLY member of the family who is NOT a rescue of some kind. We purchased him rather than rescue a dog because we wanted assurance that what we were getting was 100% pure GS. This is due to our wanting a dog with generalized behavior expectancies - specifically a dog that could be expected to get along with the other animals in the house, as well as be able to know when to protect and when to be friendly. This has worked out superbly with Oakley - he has never snapped at a cat or the rabbit, and is extremely friendly in public, yet at any sign of someone on our property, his hackles go up and he's in full protection mode.

The last dog we had, we also paid for. But we didn't go to an accredited breeder of GS's - we got him from a bulldog breeder who was "doing a favor" in selling these for "a friend". We got no papers with Indy. Long story short, Indy was more than likely not full-blood GS, confirmed by our vet.

We loved Indy dearly, but he had serious behavior issues. He couldn't go into public, as he'd get scared & timid around other humans, growl at other dogs, and if in a situation where I was with him by myself, another human couldn't approach me due to his growling & barking.

We couldn't trust him with the cats or rabbit. When eating, if a cat approached, he would growl, snarl and snap at it. We caught him on webcam when we were gone once grabbing Ripley by the head and dragging her around (we were doing so to see how he acted when we were gone, 'cause she got out of the house once undetected to us, and we "found" her by catching Indy tossing her into the air & chasing her over and over before we could call him off her and take the poor thing back into the house). But even before that, we came home one day to find Tuckle, our rabbit, terrified, wet with dog spit and bleeding from a bite to the ear. So our formerly free-to-roam rabbit ended up locked-up in a cage 24/7 unless we were there to supervise closely.

Indy would take-off after a strange dog and no amount of calling would bring him back. It was his straying, undisciplined nature that was, in part, the reason for his death by truck.

We were a lot smarter with Oakley. We got a papered dog, met his parents, and got his bloodline history. And for the things we need - protection without hostility, compatibility with other animals, obedience - we couldn't ask for a better dog. He's exactly what we read to expect from a full-blood GS.

If we had "just wanted a dog", we would have been right to the shelter. If it didn't matter if the dog would get along with other pets, or if we didn't want a somewhat "working" dog that relied on certain behavior traits, we would have gone to a shelter. As it is, if we had realized beforehand that there is a German Shepherd-specific rescue group in the area, we would have gone there instead.

Now, all our cats and our rabbit are, in a way, rescues. Tuckle you could debate with me. We got him from the Michigan State Fair. So we paid for him from a breeder. But the sign on his cage indicated his breed was best for "fur or food". And we couldn't let him become the coat of some rich spoiled bitch, or allow him to be butchered and frozen and sold in a grocery store. We had to have him - and I don't regret it a single day.

But there ARE tons of rabbit rescues out there, which I didn't even know about until after we got Tuckle. If we were to want a rabbit again, we would steel ourselves from 'rescuing' another "fur or food" bunny from the fair and instead hit up one of the dozens of rabbit rescues in Michigan alone.

As for our cats, I have a big problem with cat breeders. There are SOO many wonderful, half-breed or tabby cats out there that need homes. And so many cat breeds out there are bred with unhealthy traits just to achieve a certain look, it's appalling. For instance, Persians, with their beautiful long coats, are prized for their flat faces. Faces which cause horrible breathing and other health problems. You wouldn't raise children that way, I don't get why it's o.k. to raise cats that way.

I can see breeding a type of cat that is of particular breed if it's healthy - such as Bengals, Siamese, etc. But to purposefully perpetuate a trait that is documented unhealthy is profoundly selfish to me.

As for the costs of buying vs the push to "fix" animals, if you want an animal of a proven bloodline, you're going to pay. Oakley was $250, on the low-end of purchased dogs. Now, Oakley has already been diagnosed with hip dysplasia - one of those by-products of inbreeding I hate cat breeding for. But Oakley is what we could afford, and we ran that risk. Now, if we'd had $1000-$2,500 to spend, we could have gotten a GS with a proven German bloodline - MUCH less likely to run the risk of HD. So you DO get what you pay for.

But Ripley was free. Grover & Lincoln were $20 each animal shelter fee. Xena was $2.00 at a flea market from 2 boys who got her free, then faced a mother who said "THAT THING AIN'T COMIN' HOME WITH US - GET RID OF IT BEFORE WE LEAVE". Asia was free from my hairdresser who realized that she couldn't handle having 6 cats (and the Siamese I so dearly wanted at the time - bonus). My dear departed Jack and his departed brother were free when our shelter realized they sold us terminally ill cats and refunded our money. Fletcher, Gus & Isabeau were each $10 adoption fee from my vet, who for that $10, spays/neuters & vaccinates free of charge. And EVERY one of them is/was incredible pets I wouldn't trade for the world.

I like a lot of purbred cat breeds out there, but I just can't bring myself to "buy" a cat I know will end up in a good home if I'm not the one to puchase it. Not when I know there are so many cats out there who could end up dead from a car, disease, or euthanasia.

[Fierce Critter]

Damn. Didn't realize I'd gone on so much. Guess that'll be one of those "long posts" of mine that go unread.

[Fierce Critter]

By the way, every one of our pets, even Tuckle, is fixed. We got Fletcher done just in time - had him done last week, and Isabeau went into heat just this week. Whew. Gussy Gus! Your turn!

We aren't getting Oakley fixed, but that's not my choice. That has something to do with the fact that he's mainly Jon's dog, and they both have "packages" and some kind of f-ed up male psychology issue where that's concerned. But Oakley is never out of our sight due to what happened to Indy, so him reproducing isn't an issue. Health concerns, yes, and I hope Jon doesn't come to regret not letting our vet do the surgery, though she pushes us every time we take Oakley in.

If it were my choice, snip snip. But I've pushed the issue as much as I can with Jon, and he won't budge.

[JaneDead]

i always read your long posts critter

[Amerist]

Damn. Didn't realize I'd gone on so much. Guess that'll be one of those "long posts" of mine that go unread.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I loved it.

[lullaby1031]

In the whole history of our families pets - we have only went to a pet store and bought a kitten ONCE. All of the others where found or given to us. But that kitten was a breed called a scottish fold - everything was fine they assured us that the cat was healthy and fine - we had it for a month and we found out it had a genetic disease and we had to put it to sleep... I've always rather just went to the human society for pets - they always need a place to stay and are checked out to the best of their ability.

And Amerist is right about the reproductive cancers that animals get if they aren't fixed - My cat Legion would have gotten cancer of some form had we not gotten him fixed since one of his was stuck up around his lower abdomen. Some animals you can't really tell if their going to be ok till you get them checked out like that.