The Fallacy of Mandatory Spay Neuter

There is a trend across the country to try to reduce the pet animal population by curbing those who deliberately or negligently allow their animals to reproduce. This is being accomplished by a raft of spay/neuter laws (mandatory spay neuter a.k.a. MSN) with allowances for some specific animal reproduction. The allowance is commonly termed a breeding license or breeding permit and is issued to certain people under certain conditions such as 1) by holding a business license, 2) by proving an animal is competing in legitimate events sponsored by a national organization, or 3) by proving the animal is working for a government agency or as a service dog. Let’s examine the commonly required criteria for allowances to a reproduction moratorium and then examine the fallacies inherent in the moratorium.

1) Business license: In order to qualify for a business license in most states, including California, the business must generate revenue annually and have a positive balance. Hobby breeders generate revenue sporadically (every two to five years on average) and they rarely generate a positive balance because of a high overhead (show/competition fees and travel costs, club dues, medical care, training). Puppy farms, or mills, are able to generate a positive balance because they are selling a large amount of product and not spending money on the overhead incurred by hobby-breeders. Likewise, most breeders advertising in local papers are puppy mills on an in-home scale (backyard breeders) and do not incur the overhead costs of hobby breeders.

Hobby breeder is a term describing people dedicated to their breed of dog. They live under a code of ethics promoted by the national breed parent club. They are knowledgeable about genetic inheritance, breed characteristic, breed form and function, puppy development, and behavior modification. Hobby breeders will not sell through a retail company, i/e not to pet stores. Hobby breeders are far different than the puppy mill breeders (large or small) who won’t speak to you after your check clears. Hobby breeders are often available to give advice to the hapless folks who purchase from a backyard breeder or pet store. They take the time to advise because they care deeply about the breed and about all dogs. Hobby breeders often do not qualify for a business license due to the extremely low volume of revenue generating product (puppies), yet their animals are kept intact (unsterilized) for the one or two litters they may produce in their lifetime. So, if the intent is to reduce pet animal population, why exempt the biggest puppy producers while curbing the least productive and most supportive breeders?

2) Competition participant: Since the American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club, and Cat Fanciers Association conformation competitions are to evaluate breeding stock, the animals participating must be sexually intact. The animal must be at least six months old to enter conformation competition in a juvenile class. When the "competition exemption" is written into MSN it often cites four months as the age when the owner must prove the puppy is being shown. This is an impossible criteria to meet. Another phrase often used is "training to be shown". There is no standardized format or method for training puppies and kittens to perform in competition. Many hunting and other competition trials are rigorous enough that only adult dogs with many months of training are entered. Such a vague requirement is fraught with the potential for misinterpretation.

3) Government worker or service dog: This section may include dogs working in law enforcement, search and rescue, or arson detection. Services may include being a seeing-eye guide dog, hearing dog, or assistance dog. Why government working dogs or service dogs should be exempt has never been explained. Most working dogs cannot be removed from their job for the necessary pre-natal confinement and the post-partum recuperation time. Most female working dogs are spayed so the estrus cycle does not interfere their job (a stray male dog attempting to mate with a guide dog in harness would be a dangerous situation for the blind handler). Therefore this exemption is primarily for male working dogs. How often are male working dogs given the opportunity to mate? Do the police departments or fire departments decide on the breeding? If the desire for intact working males is not for breeding purposes, then what is it for? If surgical sterilization does not alter a dog’s personality or physical health, then why this exemption? Does sterilizing male dogs cause a change in their behavior or physical fitness that would detract from their ability to work? If male sterilization does cause detrimental changes to a dog’s mental or physical well-being, then how can any legislator require the public to damage their dogs? If a sterilized dog is no longer capable of guiding a blind person or detecting arson at a fire scene, then how can we expect our sterilized family dog to safely play with the children, a job at least as strenuous both mentally and physically as smelling an arsonist’s accelerate?

Throughout history people have created a Black Market when the government denied access to a commodity. Creating a shortage of pet dogs will encourage surreptitious imports of Black Market dogs and basement farms of puppies. The health of all American dogs and American people will be at risk when there is an increased flow of non-vaccinated illegal imports. We are already seeing the effects of a small Black Market in which the imported dogs are bringing in diseases that American dogs have never known and one disease that has been almost eradicated from our neighborhoods: rabies. Regions with MSN laws are seeing an increase in rabies due to both a drop in rabies vaccine compliance (fear that the vaccine report to the government will alert them to an intact dog) and an increase in Black Market imports. Imported dogs from Puerto Rico and Mexico have tested positive for rabies after they were in family homes and in contact with other neighborhood pets and people. More imports will bring more disease.

The people who say all breeding should cease will often cite the enormous numbers of pet animals killed by public facilities. The reasoning is that animals must be killed because there are more animals than homes available. They point to the 100 or more advertisements in the daily classifieds and they say that must cease. What they do not acknowledge is the immense market for pet animals. The public wants puppies and kittens and they are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to puppy mill breeders to get that cute baby. Unfortunately, it is very easy in our society to throw out those puppies and kittens when they get older and are no longer so cute.

If people were held responsible for their animals, the numbers of throwaway pets would plummet. The market for new pets would wither. The puppy mills would downsize or disappear because producing vast quantities would no longer be profitable if the product just sat in cages and grew larger. It does not make good business sense to overproduce a product. Just as Ford and Toyota adjust production to meet market demands, so too will puppy millers. Just as it would be ridiculous to censure Ford and Toyota for people dumping their used vehicles along the road or in vacant lots, it is ridiculous to censure the puppy makers for people dumping their used dogs. Make dog owners responsible for their dogs as car owners are responsible for their cars. Hold people accountable for the disposition of their property and the free market society will adjust the numbers.

Tehachapi Mountain Dog Fanciers, March 2008

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