What gives us the right to spay and neuter animals?

I obviously am for spaying and neutering pets and I did start a discussion regarding this subject matter days ago. First of all, as a pet owner, you should be accountable for your animals. Without spaying or neutering, a pet owner should be aware of the possibility that your animal could get pregnant or impregnate another. That said, it is acceptable if you can afford to take in all of the offspring but unfortunately, not all people are responsible enough or capable enough to take in more animals. The result of not spaying or neutering is more animals. Are they all adopted? No. Most of them are dumped and thrown away and neglected. Shelters can only take in so much and the ones that die or are put down out number the adoption rates. They multiply. So, for me, I would rather have my cat/dog fixed than add to the problem of unwanted animals being dumped or put down because there aren't enough people with the heart to take them in. I've adopted 11 cats and all are fixed. 3 dogs, all fixed, too.

I agree. I mean, how would you feel if you were spayed or neutered? Then again, if pets weren't spayed and neutered, there would be loads of them walking around the street - just like how the world is getting overpopulated with human beings. :)

There's more to it than just population control. Male cats and dogs spray, or mark their territory if they're not neutered and that becomes a health hazard and extreme odor problem for pet owners. Also, an animal's behavior can be quite different if they've been fixed or not, you can usually tell this after the surgery has been done.

I used to kind of feel the same way but then gave it some deeper thought. As bad as it might make you feel getting kitty spayed, what happens to kitty if you don't get her spayed? If she gets outside while she's in heat, first she ends up basically getting raped by any male cat that might be around and if you know anything about cats and the way they reproduce, it isn't very pleasant for the female cat, in fact, it's painful for them. Then, after all of that, kitty has kittens, those kittens cause pain while she's giving them birth and after they're born she has to feed them, i imagine that would get painful too, especially when those little critters start to get razor sharp teeth. And then about six months later, she could go through the whole process all over again, and not by choice. Not to mention all the little kitties you would have to find a home for. So, when you think about it, what would be more painful? A process that she only needs to go through once or a painful process over and over again, possibly twice a year.

I'm also against to that idea. Maybe if animals can talk to us or can protest against us they could have done it long before. I think it's very unjust for them. Yes they are our responsibility but they've got feelings too. They've got brains. For themselves, they probably would want to propagate or have their own kids or family. I wish they can talk for us to know what they really want. shadow41

Spaying or neutering your animal is not just for controlling the pet population. It is a proven fact that many female animals develop ovarian cancer is they are not spayed, so it may be one way of saving your pets life. Your pet does not typically go in for a cancer screening until a tumor is noticed and at that point it is usually too late to do anything about it other than make them comfortable. As far as you saying you would be upset if someone neutered you I can understand but that is one of the benfits of being human. We are able to think, adapt and have opposable thumbs to help prevent the over population of our kind. I know this may be hard to belive as there are many that have not been able to grasp this concept yet. So unless you have a pure bred animal and intend to breed them with another pure bred animal you should not be concerned about having them altered. Just make sure that you choose a reputable veternarian to preform the operation.

The fact that animals can't complain!