Is spaying and neutering a big issue in Tucson?
It has long been my opinion that it is obscene that as a society, we kill about 20,000 dogs and cats a year (in Pima County), and that we accept that. We think it’s fine. I want to address the fact that this is a Band-Aid that doesn’t address the underlying cause. Pima Animal Care Center (formerly animal control) is tax-funded, and their job is to round up, maybe adopt out, and kill lots of animals. (We need to make) spaying or neutering a basic part of pet ownership … make people take responsibility for their pets’ reproduction. Why don’t more people spay or neuter their pets? I think (society) still has a lot of myths associated with spaying or neutering–(the pets) will be fat or lose their personalities; I’ve forgotten some of the most ridiculous ones I’ve read. But the truth is, they tend to live longer; they’re healthier; they bite less. Spaying eliminates ovarian cancer (and) uterine cancer, and it reduces breast cancer. Neutering prevents testicular cancer and prostate cancer
