Animal Welfare and the Idea of Neutering

Meet Tyke. Tyke is a 2 month old Australian shepherd and is about 3-4 months till his loving family has him neutered. Before that happens, he has a few questions for you. Why does he need to be neutered?

It is a very normal thing for families to have their pets spayed/neutered, and there's a list of reasons they use to validate this procedure and justify how its good for the pet! Let's take a look at a few, shall we?

Spaying/Neutering mitigates the risk of health diseases.

Well, yes! You've got it right, there. If you do away with an organ, that WILL in fact, mitigate the risk of that organ ever getting infected. If you go bald, you won't catch lice. If you discard your kidney, you won't get kidney stones. If you cut off your reproductive organs, you won't have to worry about getting testicular cancer or prostate problems. Alright, let's look at a few more.

Your dog may be more well-behaved.

What a concept! Ok, yes I would definitely want to bank on that possibility. BUT, I don't know about you, but PERSONALLY, I would rather come home to an upset living room and some chewed up furniture than risking physical danger when going out during most times of the day. I'm just curious if this theory holds for other species as well, only a concept. But that's just me.

Spaying/Neutering pets has major cost-benefits.

OK seriously ASPCA, are you even trying at this point? Just don't commit to a pet if you don't have the money to look after it?!

Now let's try and figure out our actual reasons for neutering our household companions, shall we? When it comes down to it, these reasons come down to mostly Human ones. In other words, selfish. We neuter our pets because it's better for US. Wait, Maaz, do you mean to say we as Humans have commitment issues and want to receive unconditional physical and emotional forms of affection without having to offer anything in return till we get tired of getting it from one being and move on to the next in a rat race to find in others what we fail to make the effort to find in ourselves?

I know, it's a new concept, I'm appalled at the idea also, just bear with me here ok?

We neuter pets to deal with their 'over-population", but let's first realise that over-population is an issue prevalent in only our own species. Nature deals with the others pretty well on its own. Most all species have a specific time of year in which they reproduce, as they plan their birthing cycles according to migration and topographical conditions, choosing the ones in which it will be best to raise offsprings. Humans on the other hand, reproduce when we feel like it, and sometimes don't even plan as far ahead as the next morning. Woah, that means that family planning is more of a thing in elephants and whales than it is in humans, we are so evolved, high-five!

The over-population of these species as we refer to it is only in retrospect to our own over-population. We, as a species, have taken up so much space that in order to make room for more of us, there needs to be less of them. We cut down forests, dam up rivers, mine out mountains, then say there isn't enough space for those whose homes we have taken down. To have more docile voiceless companions who's wills we can mould according to our own, we have genetically created species which cannot survive on their own, make them dependent on us, then kick them to the curb when they become a slight inconvenience.

I'd like to pose just one more sarcastic question before I end this blog. We spite God and blame it so much for how it has made the universe, but we play as God so frivolously with the species and habitats we have control over, keeping in leu only the benefits it brings us. The only thing God can be held accountable for creating is man, as if every animal, plant, and land had a voice, it would surely be questioning why we are and condemning us to Hell.

Thank you for attending my Ted Talk, see you in the next one!