Great Op Ed in today’s New York Times by Verlyn Klinkenborg. Key parts:
Recently a controversial bill — Assembly Bill 1634 — was withdrawn from a committee of the California State Senate by its sponsor, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, a Democrat from Van Nuys. The bill would have required the mandatory spaying or neutering of all cats and dogs, applying statewide the kind of regulations that have already been enacted in some cities across the country.
In its various drafts, Mr. Levine softened the basic provisions of the bill, changing the mandatory age of compliance from 4 months old to 6 months, allowing even later compliance if it was recommended by a veterinarian, and adding an amendment that would let local agencies issue “one litter” permits for the family pet. The bill would also have required breeders to obtain an “intact animal permit.”
None of these changes satisfied the bill’s main opponent, the American Kennel Club. The A.K.C. argues that this bill threatens “the right to own and breed dogs responsibly.” In fact, what the bill attacks is the habit of breeding dogs and cats irresponsibly.
In California last year, 450,000 cats and dogs were euthanized. The real thrust of the A.K.C.’s argument is economic. Dog fanciers have been reluctant to bring their animals to dog shows in municipalities with mandatory spaying and neutering laws. The trump card politically? Loss of local and state revenue.
There may be better ways than a statewide law to reduce the number of unwanted pets. But the opponents of mandatory neutering make it sound as though the problem can be solved mainly by teaching owners to spay or neuter their pets voluntarily. That might be true, if we thought more rationally about our pets. But keeping pets isn’t about rationality. When it comes to them, Americans are lost in a seemingly endless act of transference.
