Lost Angeles enacted a law this year mandating that all puppies and kittens over the age of 4 months be spayed and/or neutered.

I am all for altering shelter animals or your own pet if you decide to no longer keep it. I will never support mandatory altering of people's dogs and cats.

I purchased my GSD from a reputable breeder 4 years ago. What if I wanted to breed him? What if I wanted to learn all about GSDs and start breeding them? My boy has a wonderful personality suitable for a family with small children. Is it the city's decision whether or not I alter my animal? No it isn't. The government needs to keep out of my life. There's no abuse or neglect going on, stay out of it.

Just as there are arguments for responsible tethering there is also the argument that responsbile pet owners don't allow their dogs or cats to reproduce. An inside only cat does not need to be altered.

What if my GSD had a very high prey drive? I might have decided to offer him to the police department if he would have made an excellent police dog. Police dogs are always intact. Intact MALES. Bomb sniffing dogs and other dogs used by law enforcement may or may not be altered but police dogs that are partners with a cop are almost always male and almost always intact. I have yet to see a female police dog and I have yet to see a neutered one. Why is that?

Neutering interferes with hormones and isn't necessary if the owner has control over the dog. The same people that mistreat animals are the same ones who will not abide by any law when it comes to dogs or cats.

Altering outside and feral cats is always a good idea, mandatory or not. Cats are far less domesticated than dogs are and are much more wild. Cats multiply too much as it is.

Mandatory altering will not stop the abundance of dogs and cats in shelters. If every person that got a dog or cat actually kept the animal until its life end, that would help reduce the numbers in shelters and rescues. The strays the shelter finds? If you see them up for adoption they most likely weren't wild dogs. Owners surrendering their animals are the ones causing the problem in shelters. People need to make the commitment and keep it. Such a lack of integrity to give up your pet because you're moving or having a baby or lack of time. Stop dumping these pets in shelters and own up to your responsibilities.

For more info on LA's new law read this article:

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/02/local/me-spay2