The Cruelty Of Castration
Barbara J. Andrews , Publisher TheDogPlace.org
June 2006 / What is the risk vs. benefit of surgically castrating your pet? Does “spaying” or “neutering” affect the health of your dog? Yes and Yes. Does castration have any health benefits? No. In fact female dogs and cats are the only creatures on the planet that routinely have their reproductive organs removed… The simple truth is there is no medical reason to remove reproductive organs from healthy animals; not in veterinary medicine and not in human medicine!
That’s why humans receive hormone replacement therapy (HRT) – to counteract the loss of vital sex hormones when women undergo hysterectomy or men are accidently castrated. Underproduction of estrogen and testosterone causes debilitating disease and premature aging in men and women. The demand for bio-identical hormone replacement therapy as a proven anti-aging therapeutic treatment for senior citizens has exploded. Hold that thought. You are one day older today than yesterday.
Are there health risks from neutering your dog? Absolutely. Can you look your dog in the eye and explain that slicing away what makes him a him is good for him? Castration is directly linked to heart disease, myocardial infarction, strokes and cardiovascular disease, senile dementia, osteoporosis and hip fracture. Hysterectomy risks in female dogs are intervertebral disk disease, Myasthenia Gravis, muscle weakness, a doubled risk of splenic hemangiosarcoma, and bladder and urinary tract infections are so common they are called “spay incontinence”. And as in male dogs, females have five times the risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma Ref #1, 2 and both sexes suffer from lethargy, exercise intolerance, and obesity.
That’s not all. Neutered dogs of either sex are at double the risk for osteosarcoma and increased incidence of urinary tract cancers, Ref #3.
Facts. The deadliest cancers and the most annoying problem for house dogs are at the top of the list for spayed and neutered dogs. Removal of sex organs also significantly increases the odds of adverse reactions to vaccines (ref #4) and inclines both sexes to alopecia, hip dysplasia, and cruciate ligament rupture. You can cope with heat seasons easier than urinary incontinence, orthopedic problems, and cancer in your old dog.
Is the “right thing to do” painfully mutilating your dog or cat in order to prevent “overpopulation” when there are nearly 7 billion people reproducing at an incredibly reckless rate? The moral answer is No. Fencing your pet and being a responsible human makes much more sense.
Is there any upside to slicing out the testicles of male animals? Stallions have been turned into geldings and bulls into oxen since man first domesticated them. Castration makes males more manageable and steers gain weight faster. That’s it, except for being told that a dog with no testicles can’t get testicular cancer. The canine testicular cancer rate is so low that there are no valid statistics and the metastasis rate is only 15% when it is diagnosed. Castration to prevent ovarian or testicular cancer makes as much sense as removing the heart to prevent heart disease.
Animal Rights activists, ref #5, and HSUS (Humane Society of The U.S. which does not rescue, adopt, or shelter unwanted dogs) vow to stop all animal breeding. Their propaganda seeks to convince us that sterilization is “best for your pet”. The politically dangerous Animal Rights groups use mandatory spay/neuter law as a means of subverting citizen’s rights, property rights (yes dogs and cats are legal property) and our innate abhorrence to cruelty.
And sadly, we must thank the vet associations because spaying and neutering is nearly as profitable as treating the health problems neutered dogs develop. Is that why so many vets avoid informed consent and happily give in to owner and shelter requests to spay and neuter? Many vets welcome mandatory S/N law because it pumps the profit margin with hysterectomy/castrations and the myriad of health problems that follow!
Breeders buy into the castration complex because A. they want to maintain control over their bloodline and B. to eliminate competition from “irresponsible back yard breeders.” Those are noble and sensible reasons for requiring any dog not sold at “breeding” or “show” price to be sterilized but not from a health perspective. And it certainly makes no sense to the frightened, legs-crossed pet determined to remain as nature intended!
Is there an alternative to castrating my pet? Yes. If you are lucky enough to find a vet who will do tubal ligation or vasectomy, ref #6!!! As owners step away from the bonds of politically correct serfdom and demand ligation and vasectomy, cost will go down, more veterinarians will study and perfect safe, hormone preserving sterilization and dogs will no longer be forced to suffer the adverse effects and cruelty of sexual castration.
If you are lucky enough to have acquired a well bred purebred, please make an informed and loving decision. If you are still looking for a family pet and breeders are demanding spay/neuter, offer to pay extra to reserve the right to allow the dog to remain undamaged. It will be cheaper in the long run because you won’t have vet bills associated with castration health problems.
http://www.thedogplace.org/HEALTH/Cruelty-Castration_Andrews-1106.asp #1106
Ref #1 http://www.neutering.org/banes.html
Ref #2 http://www.neutering.org/files/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf
Ref #3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutering
Ref #4 http://www.thedogplace.org/VACCINES/Articles.asp
Ref #5 http://www.thedogplace.org/LEGISLATION/AR-Payoff-Congress-10062-Andrews.asp
Ref #6 Canine Tubal Ligation, Vasectomy
