Another city makes it a requirement for dog owners to spay or neuter their pets.
Long Beach City Council voted last night to draft an ordinance requiring dog owners to spay or neuter their pets. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA) commends this action and sees it as a positive step toward reducing the population of unwanted animals in the city.
Since spcaLA opened the P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village and Education Center in Long Beach 13 years ago, more than 25,000 animals have found homes.
But the homeless animal population will not be solved by adoption alone.
“There are animal welfare organizations that do not support mandatory spay/neuter laws – spcaLA is not one of them,” spcaLA President Madeline Bernstein said. “This isn’t about the expansion of government. This is about being a voice for the voiceless: the female dogs who, because of the irresponsibility of their owners, have litter after litter of puppies who are unwanted and go without comfort and medical care, left to die on the streets.”
Unaltered animals find their way into shelters because they go stray looking for mates. Just within the last month, spcaLA cared for two unaltered pets, a cat and a dog, both hit by cars.
Both had legs amputated due to their injuries. This scenario is especially common in young, unneutered males.