There is no good reason not to and as you can see, many many reasons to do it. Usually the only people who are against it are irresponsible idiots who shouldn't have pets or kids to begin with.....

I have to admit, my Molly was my closest adult relationship...and my longest.

i'm sorry to hear that

Emily is a good name.

This is soooooooo true!

My dogs are perfectly fine no changes

Thank you.

If you don't believe in spaying & nuetering, volunteer at a shelter. Ask to be included in ALL the duties, not the ones normally reserved for volunteers.
Speak with the animal control officers, ask why you are not allowed in certain areas & why volunteers have schedules. Ask about the numbers of pets taken in & the adoption rate. Help log in the litters of unwanted kittens & realize you can't be judgemental of the owners, it's bad for the shelters image. You have to be pleasant & try not to make them feel guilty, because they will just dump the next litter if the shelter is a bad experience for them. Volunteer to make to desicions on which kittens to keep for adoption, & which ones there are no room for. Hold a dog still & comfort it in it's last minute. Carry the bodies out to the freezer. Stand in a huddle with your co workers & cry.

We had to delay euthanaisa while volunteers were in the building & were not allowed to dicuss it openly & honesty because of the huge battle in the local paper over it.

No kill shelters are great & I wish they were the only kind, BUT what happens when they run out of room? They have to turn pets away. Where are they taken then? We took in over 3000 pets a year. The national adoption rate averages 15 %.

With all due respect, when a trusted family vet who knows your dog and her lifestyle well tells you it is not necessary when you ask about it...it does not seem like a thing to get a second opinion for. It's no different than saying I was an idiot when I took a child to the Doctor with Strep and he treated her for the flu without bothering with a culture, which allowed the Strep to worsen for a couple of days before it was properly treated.

Yes, you can not always trust the judgment of those you count on, but you can't know everything and these are not issues one thinks to get second opinions for. You only know when you know.

That being said, I will always spay or neuter any animal as soon as I get them from now on, now that I know there are health risks involved and not just pregnancies to protect against.

If you have a great love for a particular breed of animal & are committed to preserving & improving that breed, have an exceptional animal that meets or exceeds all the breeds standards including temperment & you are committed to being responsable for all the resulting offspring, then breeding may be justified.

Note the word "usually" in my post. I've been doing animal rescue since 1972 and was a volunteer cruelty case inspector for two years, and worked as a vet tech for seven years. Forgive me if I allow my experiences to color my opinions.

that's awesome. i wish more people cared that much about animals.

I worked for the shelter that had the animal control contact for the county. I did the full range of duties from voluteering to speak at schools, office work, cleaning, helping with the weekly TV show & euthanasia.

I worked 40 hours & voluteered 4 each week.

So do I, Sing- The whole problem is appalling and we should all do what we can to help.

I have electricians coming & my power will be off for a few hours, I will check this thread tonight.

That's awesome, too. More people need to be educated on animal responsibility. Too bad some just won't listen.

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3 If you want to help, you go to this link each day and click on the icon in the top right. This will provide food for shelter animals and if you do it each day it makes a big difference.

I'm not saying I disagree at all. Note the words "with all due respect" Just saying that better education about these issues would prevent those who wish to care well for their animals would be greatly beneficial.

Unfortunately those who will bring a Christmas pup home when they can barely feed their own children are another story. I have no clue what they are thinking much less what might help them understand the kind of commitment and care an animal deserves.

Our local shelter here runs ad champagnes warning people against spontaneous pet purchasing and warns of the importance of fixing your animals, but I'm not sure that it helps much since after Holidays they fill up with dogs, kittens and ducklings faster than they take in donations for sure.