Entire Dog Blog

I go back and forth in my feelings on the topic of spaying and neutering.

I understand that something needs to be done about the exploding dog population. I'm just not sure that mutilating our pets (and that's what it is, no matter how well intentioned we are in doing it) for our own convenience and to correct problems we've created is the right way to go about doing it. If society were totally clear on it being the right thing to do, we wouldn't have to invent terms like "fixed" and "spayed" to hide from ourselves the ugly process that really occured. Believe me, if what happens to male dogs had happened to me at any point, I wouldn't consider myself "fixed." I'd consider myself really, really broken.

As I was saying, on some days I think the process is totally right and on some days I think the process is totally wrong, but there will never come a day when I will think any government should be mandating this decision for me. But that's exactly what is happening in the home of Butterfly Ballots: Palm Beach County Florida.

If adopted, the proposed measure allows pet owners to opt out of the mandatory sterilization by registering the animal with the county and paying a $75 fee. The owner would also have to sign a contract stating that they would not breed the animal.

According to the proposition, breeders can waive the $75 fee for two animals if they register within 90 days, but they can only breed two litters a year and must provide the names and contact information of people who buy their pets.

Elderly and sickly animals may be exempt from the ordinance, WPBF News 25 reported.

Please see the above-bolded statement and then see this proposition for exactly what it is: A creative feel-good way to separate more people from their money and get it into the pockets of their government. According to the logic of this proposition, "sterilizing your dog is the right thing to do, but you can opt out of the right thing if you pay us."

How does me paying you $75 turn something that's wrong into something that's right, Mr. Taxman? And, of course, if you don't sterilize your dog and don't pay the fee, there's another higher fee that goes to the government. Either way, the government of Palm Beach County has inserted itself into something through which it makes no money and - viola - suddenly it makes money either way. Municipal magic.

And maybe, just maybe, we'll exempt animals that are too old or too sick to breed in the first place.

This is exactly the kind of thing that governments - especially local governments - try to slip by people all the time. On the surface, it makes sense. Too many dogs, stop dogs from making more dogs. They figure you're too busy to really stop and think about it.

Doing what they say is the right thing takes money out of your pocket and puts it in theirs. Doing what they say is the wrong thing takes even more money out of your pocket and puts it in theirs.

These types of laws should be opposed no matter what your feeling on spaying and neutering. They have little to do with compassion for animals and more to do with compassion for taxation.