Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

Have a Heart: Neuter Your Animals

D.C. Humane Society Hopes to Curb Killing
The Washington Humane Society has announced a five-year goal of eliminating euthanasia of adoptable animals brought to the D.C. shelter, potentially saving the lives of thousands of cats and dogs by finding homes for more of them and preventing unwanted births.

Hurray for the DC Humane Society! At least they’re trying. Here’s how it is: If you’re going to have pets, you’ve got to neuter them. Period. And you’ve got to keep them inside — unless you live WAAAAY out in the country. Then they can go outside during the day, but only if you’re with them to monitor what they’re doing. And you’ve got to take them to the vet at least once a year for their shots and an exam.

Too many people treat animals like possessions — throwing them out, like an old rug, when they grow tired of the animal or when caring for it becomes more work than they want to do. Our cat George, for example. George was a stray who’d been hanging around our backyard for a while. When I was able to get close enough to really look him over, I could see that he’d been living outside for a while. His fur was pretty dirty and his paws were rough and dirty. It was only after we brought him inside to live with us that we discovered he’s deaf. He’d obviously been someone’s pet at some point. He’d been neutered and declawed and he was very likely an expensive cat — he’s a Japanese Bobtail. But he’s a high-strung cat. He’s very aggressive. VERY aggressive. And he’s had ongoing bladder problems (now under control with medication) that made him pee in the wrong places for a while. So, someone put this cat outside to fend for himself — this deaf, declawed cat. It’s a good thing we found him before a dog or a car did. People who treat animals like that are horrible and, frankly, the world would be a better place without them.

And while I’m at it, let me just write a few words about breeders and the people who buy “pure-bred” dogs and cats. Unless you’re a sheep rancher who needs a good herding dog, you’re really wasting your money — and perpetuating a condition that’s actually bad for animals — by buying a “pure-bred” animal. “Pure-bred” animals have more health problems than mixed breeds. Worse, when you buy a “pure-bred” dog or cat, you are in essence condemning to death a mixed-breed animal who could have been adopted from a shelter.

I understand that people will often buy a “pure-bred” animal because they want the animal to have a certain kind of personality and they’ve been persuaded (by breeders) that buying “pure-bred” is some sort of guarantee of this. That’s pretty much complete bullshit. While it’s true that some characteristics can be broadly associated with certain breed groups (particularly in dogs), you don’t need a “pure-bred” to enjoy those characteristics. So, if you want a small dog with lots of energy, it’s probably a good idea to look for a dog with some terrier in him. You don’t need a “pure-bred” Jack Russell. If you want a small fluffy lap-dog sort of thing, you don’t need a “pure-bred” Lhasa Apso. A fuzzy mixed-breed is just as likely to have the personality you want — only without the health problems and without supporting the inherently abusive breeding business. As bad as dog-breeding is, cat-breeding is even worse because there are so many more mixed-breed cats who need homes.

Well… anyway. That’s what I think of all that. On a mostly unrelated note, this morning an opposum came up onto the deck looking for left-over squirrel peanuts. Cool! They’re so strange looking!