Pensacola Dog Fanciers Association, Inc

 SPAY AND NEUTER

Most breeders encourage the spaying and neutering of dogs and cats not being kept for show or breeding. Their pet animals are usually sold on a spay or neuter contract, although very few would recommend or want their puppies neutered at a time when many of the new proposed mandatory spay/neuter laws call for. That is most safely done once the animal has reached maturity. Ask a woman if she considers a hysterectomy minor surgery... or if she would consider having one done on a 6 year old child. Not only is there danger in spaying, but too early a spay has been shown to have ill effects on health and even temperaments. Dogs neutered early, especially large dogs, grow tall and too narrow for their size, stressing their bones and too many develop bone cancer. Most breeders have sterilized animals on the premises as they make for calmer pets, especially if there are unspayed bitches on the premises. Responsible breeders do however, understand the breeding cycles and keep their unspayed and unneutered animals where they will not be indiscriminately bred. It is not in their interest to have unwanted pregnancies. There is a big difference in a "puppy mill" that breeds whatever they have, including "designer cross-breds" for money and little regard for the animal, and a responsible breeder, especially a hobby show breeder.
The case against early spay/neuter: http://www.dogsports.com/rethinkingspayneuter.html

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The campaign to spay and neuter pets has been largely effective. When the campaign first began in 1970, there was an estimated 21-22% euthanasia rate in the US. In 2007 it was down to 2.6% of the total population of dogs and cats. When you compare the number of families that plan to get a dog to the number of dogs being euthanized in shelters, the claim that far too many dogs are being born doesn't fit the math. Forward thinking humane societies are transporting dogs to shelters with higher demand for adoptions. What some of the shelters, claiming there are too many unwanted dogs in this country, are actually doing is transporting dogs in from outside the United States - while telling you that to buy a purebred is to condemn a shelter dog, they skew the numbers of dogs in shelters. Some of these shelters and retail rescues are themselves becoming "pet stores" driven by income from the sale of these dogs, including confiscations. They are not interested in dropping reported numbers of euthanized dogs. They are interested in getting laws passed that forbid pet shops from selling anything but rescues, furthering their influence in where you must buy your pets. 

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Now it is becoming big business to breed dogs (even mixed breeds) outside of the US for US consumption both by groups, shelters and individuals. The smuggling of purebreds across the border has become an issue and people are also buying dogs on the Internet from foreign countries, where there are no assurances of what you are getting...or if you even get it.  It is estimated that 1,000,000 dogs were imported in "rescue missions." These missions aren't mentioned in the ads telling you buying from a breeder is "killing shelter dogs." It also introduces disease and some of these imported dogs have had rabies and the canine flu reportedly came in from rescues imported from Korea. So the drive to demonize Americans who breed well thought out litters and those who want what a purebred offers them is based on deception to another purpose. There is no excuse for the treatment of the breeder  who sold Vice-President Biden the German Shepherd puppy he wanted. Both were within their rights and the puppy was wanted, yet the transaction was oppressed by a philosophy. That is no different than denying people the right to eat in a restaurant because of their color and should not be tolerated by anyone who values freedom.

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Mandatory spay and neuter bills are continually brought to communities through animal rights activists, and much of the reason they are not needed are listed above. If for no other reason than economics, these are not good laws to pass...they will double your animal control costs, as many communities have found. As a result, some of these laws have been rescinded. The costs for those abiding by the law who want to breed is one of the reasons it is becoming difficult to find responsible breeders and people are driven to poor breeders elsewhere. None of the promised income from "punishing" those who would dare to breed has come to pass. Like those businesses driven out of states by high taxes and regulations, they either discontinue their activities or move and those proposed taxes are not collected.
It has been found that low income neighborhoods are the most likely to have a large percentage of unneutered dogs and the solution has been to offer low-cost clinics where they are not afraid of being investigated and charged with violations. This has been found to be the most effective way of cutting numbers in the shelters. High license fees on the other hand, increase those numbers as dogs are turned in or unclaimed.

 

PDFA letters against mandatory spay/neuter and breeding bans: