So we foster mother dogs with puppies that are too young to enter a shelter system. This last time we ended up receiving stolen dogs that we didn't know we're not surrendered yet. So when the owner filed a complaint to the SPCA about his mother dog and her 4 5 day old puppies being taken against his will by another lady, I had to step in to save everyone's life and not have to hand them back over to starve to death, since the mother was only 7 months old and they didn't have money to feed her, let alone feed her enough to make enough milk for the pups. I talked him down from $300 to $150, and they now belong to me. Well the pups and momma are ready for new homes finally and we've spent a small fortune on shots and wormings and food. Not to mention the amount of time I spend on their care. So my neighbor has a friend who wanted one of our little girls and I explained the contract and how the biggest part of it is that the pup must be spayed by 6 months of age, and the adopter must provide me proof of this or they will return the dog and forfeit their adoption fee, and these terms are legally binding and not up for negotiations. Well she is supposed to pick her puppy up on Monday and now wants to negotiate the spay part of the contract, because she had a cat that had kittens and it was fun. I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, if you breed your LSGD or show dogs, with the intent to continue your lines and are responsible about it, and making sure you have good homes for your pups with responsible people, great. I've recently met a woman in VA that has a LSGD that I asked if she bred her, to let me know because I would like a puppy, due to this dogs breed mix and ability to be a great guardian and family dog at the same time, which can be a hard quality to breed. But she said she won't breed unless she has established responsible homes for most of her litter. People need to spay and neuter, period. So here are US statistics that help others understand the problem. UNITED STATES FACTS & FIGURES • Number of cats and dogs born every day in the U.S.: 70,000 (nearly 3,000 born every hour or 50 born every minute) • Number of stray cats and dogs living in the U.S.: 70 million • Number of animals in the U.S. that die each year from cruelty, neglect, and exploitation: 30 million • Number of animal shelters in the U.S.: 4,000 – 6,000 • Number of cats and dogs entering U.S. shelters each year: 6 – 8 million • Number of cats and dogs euthanized by U.S. shelters each year: 3 – 4 million (nearly 10,000 animals killed every day) • Number of cats and dogs adopted by U.S. shelters each year: 3 – 4 million • Number of cats and dogs reclaimed by owners from U. S. shelters each year: 600,000-750,000 (10% of total entering shelters – 15–30% of dogs and 2–5% of cats) • Yearly cost to U.S. taxpayers to impound, shelter, euthanize, and dispose of homeless animals: $2 billion • Percentage of dogs in U.S. shelters which are purebred: 25 – 30 % • Average age of animals entering U.S. shelters: under 18 months old • Percentage of animals entering U.S. shelters that are healthy and adoptable: 90% • Percentage of owned dogs that were adopted from an animal shelter: 18% • Percentage of owned cats that were adopted from an animal shelter: 16% • Percentage of animals entering animal shelters by animal control authorities: 42.5% • Percentage of animals entering animal shelters that were surrendered by their owners: 30% • Percentage of people who acquire animals that end up giving them away, abandoning them, or taking them to shelters: 70% Thank you for reading my rant, I just needed to vent!
more people should. i have 3 cats from shelter, 2 are 14 yrs now and i got them as kitten and one is 2yrs, barn cat, because he is realy good at it. i wouldnt trade them for anything. they are all fixed and thats the way it should be
I agree, for most people, there is no reason not to spay or neuter. All three of my dogs are fixed, in fact the last dog that we ever owned that was not fixed was in the early 1980's my mom was given a pregnant mixed breed dog. After she had her litter, we had her fixed. If you show dogs, or breed dogs for specific reasons (maybe your own line of hunting dogs, etc.), then I can see why you might have a few litters from superior dogs. Unfortunately, the norm is a bunch of irresponsible people, some breeding dogs (for example: pit bulls) for the worst reasons, or having unplanned litters because they are too cheap to bother with paying for the surgery. Yes, cheap! I said it! I have met people who have told me they paid large sums for a dog, only to follow up by telling me, "Oh yeah, I wanted to get him/her fixed, but I can't afford it." If you can pay tons of $$$ for the dog, you can save up and get it fixed! On top of that, lots of communities have spay/neuter clinics of offer discounted spay/neuter programs. I hate the idea of the goverment forcing me to alter my dog, but if people don't start voluntarily altering their pets in greater numbers, I think the state where I live will soon start making mandatory spay/neuter laws. Talk about a bunch of irresponsible fools ruining it for the rest of us. And after so many trips to my local shelter, seeing rows and rows of dogs on death row, I can't say that I would vote against such a law... at one time I would have, but this lack of regulation is causing terrible suffering..... I wish you could trust people to be responsible, but it just isn't working so far.
Sadly, it's true. If you go onto your cities Craigslist all you see are puppies that backyard breeders have for sale for like $500-$750, dogs that were bred just to make someone money and not for the betterment of the breed or anything. Even sadder is the fact that they are all pits, and half of them will be dumped in shelters and even less will be adopted, because the shelter population is overrun with them at this point. Well Princess got her great new home today, with a woman who will spay her and spoil her rotten. I just wish more people would spay and neuter for their dogs health and the pet over population problem. Maybe one day people will pull their heads out of their butts.
I hate it when ignorant people say that they want their animal to experience "motherhood" because it's all rainbows and butterflies... Your pet won't know the difference and won't ponder about not feeling fulfilled with life and will most certainly live a happier life as an altered critter! Rant over LOL!
Agreed! Not only that but we foster for shelters and I can't tell you how many puppies we've gotten because the mother rejected and attacked them. My dog has been spayed since 4 months old, and she thinks she is the mom to every chick we bring home and loves them way more then she likes other dogs. She isn't even fond of the puppies we foster, and she ignores them half the time. No one looks at the cost either. It's expensive to raise a little of puppies and get them their shots and wormings. I know, I've done it countless times because people are irresponsible and don't spay and neuter! Ugh!
I also love this! Or......"we want the kids to experience puppies/kittens". Fine. Adopt a puppy or kitten, make the commitment to keep the animal forever.
Agreed with all of the above! It's also generally a very safe and quick procedure (spays take a bit longer as they are more invasive). Also, it gives us vet students practice! It's amazing how many animals come through the shelters that are unaltered. I am happy to see so many low cost spay/neuter clinics being put in place. I especially like to see the ones for pitbulls.
I am a huge spay/neuter proponent. When my brother, who is 50, certainly more then old enough to know better, tried to feed me this line about a cat they got for their teenage daughter I suggested to him to also take her down to the animal shelter and view all the unadopted dogs, cats, puppies and kittens that would be scheduled for euthanasia that day. That way she would see the whole story, not just the moment of birth. Needless to say he was a little pissy with me over that comment! OP, if this woman has not even picked up this pup and is already wanting to back out of the agreement then I would cancel it altogether. Those are the terms of the agreement and it's pretty clear that she's not going to follow them. The agreement may be legally binding but that only goes as far as you are able to pay for legal fee's to hold her to it.