Animal Control

3 Pages 776 Words

Should the government inact laws to require its citizens to spay and neuter their pets? A question of governmental responsibility

Due to the fact that there are so many stray cats and dogs in our society, resulting in overcrowded animal shelters, the government should enforce a law that requires its citizens to spay and neuter their pets. According to the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (2003), “municipalities can be part of the solution to this problem by implementing and enforcing bylaws that encourage and reward responsible pet owners who licence, permanently identify and neuter their pets.”
There are several advantages of requiring citizens to spay and neuter their pets. If the government were to enforce this law, we would benefit from financial savings, a decrease in the population of strays and overcrowded shelters (less homeless animals), and a more appealing picture of society.
If pet owners were required to spay and neuter their pets, our society would benefit financially. A lesser need for animal control, sheltering, and eutahanizing would cut costs drastically. The licensing of births and fines from unibideing citizens would result in a monetary income which could be reinvested into the program. By requiring owners to spay and neuter their pets, the population of stray animals would decrease dramatically. As stated by the Kalamazoo County Animal Services and Enforcement Office, unwanted and stray animals are a large part of the problem because these animals give birth to unwanted puppies and kittens at an alarming rate. The United States Humane Society theoretically forecasts that if one cat continues to breed at a normal rate of three litters a year and the cats’ offspring breed at the time of their maturity, the cat and her offspring can produce approximately 420,000 kittens over seven years. This statistic is startling to our society in a economic sense as well as a moral one. Many communities ...