About Neutering Laws

Across the United States, three to four million cats and dogs are killed every year because there are many more companion animals than there are adopters to give them loving, forever homes.
Communities spend millions in tax dollars catching, sheltering, killing and disposing of the bodies of unwanted and homeless dogs and cats. Some estimates put the average cost of handling an unwanted animal from time of capture until time of death at $300.
Many animal advocates and communities are turning to laws requiring the spaying or neutering of all companion animals as a tool to solve the problem. However, others in animal advocacy say mandatory spaying or neutering is not the answer and causes more problems than it solves.

Current Laws

According to In Defense of Animals, at least 30 states have laws that require dogs and cats adopted from government-supported or government-operated shelters to be spayed or neutered before they are released to adopting guardians. In addition to these laws, many municipalities and counties have local laws that require adopted pets to be spayed or neutered before leaving the shelter or shortly after adoption. Many also have ordinances that require guardians who do not sterilize their pets to pay increased licensing fees.

Definition

Neutering is the surgical procedure, performed by a veterinarian while the animal is anesthetized, to castrate a male dog or cat. Neutering makes the animal unable to inseminate a female animal. Female animals are spayed. Spaying is the surgical procedure, also performed by a veterinarian while the animal is anesthetized, to remove the uterine organs. This procedure makes it impossible for the animal to be impregnated. In the past two decades, spay and neuter procedures have been performed at much younger ages. Pediatric spaying or neutering is now common and is performed on animals as young as 8 weeks.

Supporting the laws

Across the United States, shelter intakes and the killing of healthy animals because of overpopulation has been declining in recent years. This is often attributed to an increase in the spaying and neutering of pets. Thirty years ago, about 17 million dogs and cats were killed each year as a result of overpopulation. The number is less than a quarter of that today, leading many advocates to cite these numbers as reasons spaying and neutering laws would be effective in ending the overpopulation crisis.

Opposing the laws

Opponents to the laws say most pet animals are spayed or neutered voluntarily.
They argue overpopulation is the result of unaltered stray or feral animals, a lack of affordable and accessible spaying and neuter for pets whose guardians are poor, and reproduction by animals intentionally bred for profit. They say using resources to make spaying and neutering services available to pets of low-income guardians and to stray or feral pets would be a more efficient means of solving the problem.

Adopting vs. Breeding

Within the animal advocacy movement, both those who support and oppose mandatory spay and neuter laws agree that educating the public about adopting rescued and homeless animals rather than buying pets is an educational component in ending the overpopulation crisis. In addition to reproducing feral or stray pets and the "accidental" litters created by unaltered pets, shelter animals must compete with puppies and kittens sold by those who intentionally produce thousands of animals each year. These include "backyard" breeders, who may only have one litter for sale per year, and puppy mills, which may produce hundreds of litters per year.

Benefits

Whether mandatory or voluntary, few would disagree that spaying and neutering benefits the animal, the guardian and the community.
In addition to the procedures' role in curbing companion animal over-population, pets who are spayed or neutered live longer and healthier lives. Spaying and neutering reduces and eliminates many health and behavioral issues, including reproductive cancers, diseases transmitted by fighting and mating, the likelihood that an animal will be lost because it roams or runs away, and spraying, marking and aggression.

References

• Alley Cat Allies
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• In Defense of Animals