Lately I have been considering getting my 5 month old dog fixed, but I'm not so sure I want to go through with it. I know most of the arguments for it, but do any of you have arguments against fixing pets? I might have one or two, but I'll see what people say before I say anything about it. What are your arguments for and against fixing pets?
Maybe it's just me not wanting to do what's expected of me but I've had a thought or two recently about why not to fix a pet.
Maybe reality isn't quite as bad as this article, but then again maybe it is. My thought is that when it comes to mutts and pound puppies the general rule people seem to follow (unless they live way out in the country) is to have the reproductive abilities removed from the dog. On the other side of that the "ure bred" dogs often times end up the only ones that don't get fixed. (I know this isn't all inclusive for either of the sides, but it seems to be the way things are generally speaking) . Eventually, we may end up mutilating the genomes of our canine furiends so badly that they may not be redeemable. Us removing the mixed doggies from the genetic pool may destroy our only reservoirs of healthy traits. That would seem to be a long ways down the road, but is it really?
Obviously, not fixing animals leads to higher kill rates at pet shelters. That outcome is something that is undeniable, and it is a tragic to think about. In spite of that, what would be worse: A world with dogs who have been bred into genetic cesspools and eventually no dogs at all, or a world of increasing euthanization rates?
The sperm in a freezer route isn't such a bad idea except it seems to lend itself to more of the designer dog'ish genetic problem I've described....and freezers fail from time to time. That and it costs money if you do it through a company.. I'm assuming anyway.
Getting a male's testicles removed also removes the chances of testicular cancer (obviously).
Unless you can find a place that does it for free, it's not the cheapest procedure around...
Well trained intact dogs alongside a well trained, educated, aware owners could probably do just as good or close to as good a job as snipping all the dogs you don't want in the effective available gene pool.
Your dog is 5 months old, so you should probably get the dog fixed before it starts going through its sexual phases. Psychologists speak of depression in dogs if they are already mature when getting fixed. It also depends on the dog, so 5 months old may already be past that point.
