Sterilisation: Core of Animal Welfare
While there is much that animal welfare organisations do that is admirable and makes a difference in the lives of both the animals and those who love them, nothing has a more significant effect, or has more strategic importance in the war against animal neglect and abuse, than sterilisation.
In case you are not aware of the statistic, a successful sterilisation brings to an end the potential for 67000 unwanted animals over a 5 year period; we euthanize more than a million unwanted animals a year in our shelters. Nothing more needs to be said.
But we should say a lot more about the additional benefits of sterilisation, what the options are in respect of future legislation, and how best to approach what seems to be a prickly complex problem on the surface…
We might begin, however, by stating that breeding of companion animals is best left to responsible professionals. By ‘responsible’ I mean those who invest time and money to ensure that the animals’ interests come first. So they should conduct home checks and contract to have the animal sterilised after the correct period – after all, unless the person they are selling to is a registered, licensed breeder, sterilisation should be a legal requirement. In addition, the animal should be inoculated and the new owner educated in respect of the necessary inoculations going forward. They should also be responsible for follow-up to ensure that both inoculation and sterilisation have taken place. By ‘professional’ I mean people who are not only qualified, having passed an exam in respect of the necessary knowledge required, but that they also have the necessary grounds, tools and facilities to support their practice. All of the above should be regulated and breeders made accountable for any deviation from such regulations, ideally formulated in legislation.
Benefits
The community benefits in many ways from the sterilisation of domestic animals.
There will be a reduction in the number of strays, and as a result less animal attacks and health problems caused by animals.
There will be smaller populations in shelters and the pound, with the corresponding saving in cost as well as reduction in the anxiety suffered by welfare workers. We think that saving could be spent on sterilisation…
The animals benefit, the risk associated being reduced, with few exceptions, in respect of many maladies:
Spayed females have a far lower incidence of mammary cancer than unspayed females, and pyometra (a serious, even life-threatening infection of the uterus, common in older unspayed females) and ovarian cancers are completely eliminated. Testicular cancer in males is also eliminated. But the reduction of objectionable sexually-related behaviour in your pet is perhaps your best reason for sterilisation. The natural urges of sexually intact pets make them hard to live with: they spray urine to mark their territory, they escape to seek sexual partners or do battle with rivals, they howl, mount legs or furniture, get blood on the carpet and gather packs of amorous suitors outside your door. These bothersome, embarrassing and destructive behaviours are, with few exceptions, a thing of the past when your pet is spayed or neutered.
Phased approach to implementation of legislation
The prohibitive cost of sterilisation is an obstacle to the process of getting wide acceptance for legislating it, and it is clear that unless the cost of sterilisation can be reduced substantially, it remains beyond the reach of the average man, never mind the poor. I heard recently of several cases where a price of R1500 was quoted, quote ludicrous given the input costs. Clearly, vets are living larger…
But there are other ways in which the cost factor can be addressed. Government should take responsibility, in part because of the social benefits of sound domestic animal practices in the home, but also due to the benefits of sterilisation to society in having less strays, less animal disease, less animal attacks and less suffering animals. Government should subsidise this process because it’s good for all, not just for the animals.
In addition, there are innovations that will certainly assist us to reduce the population of unwanted animals: Esterilsol by Ark Sciences is one such innovation, a male injectable sterilant that would cost less than R150 per sterilisation and could be administered by a veterinary nurse, thereby obviating the vet’s expensive and scarce time. Sterilisation clinics could be set up all over South Africa, focusing only on neutering.
On the ground, however, until such time as the above options are available, blanket sterilisation is not ideal, since it would lead to widespread euthanasia as people who cannot afford to sterilise would surrender unwanted animals to their local SPCA, not to mention the trauma of such events.
In a recent email to me, Dr Shelagh Hahn made what I think is a brilliant suggestion. We could make it illegal for an animal to change ownership from one person to another without sterilisation. This would obviate the need to sterilise all the animals that are currently intact, thereby leaving single dogs intact – they present no threat – and over time would result in a reduction in the population. It would need to be coupled with making home breeding illegal except for registered breeders, and it would also require a register, but these are manageable.
I think this would act as an outstanding bridge until we have all the conditions in place that would facilitate blanket sterilisation.
There is also a need, I believe, to register existing breeders, but to put a moratorium on new registrations for, say, 5 years and review that policy at that time. In this way, the aggregate breeding capacity may be reduced.
I also think it is necessary that domestic animal welfare organisations be regulated in respect of issues like sterilisation, inoculations, and even home checks. Transparency and reporting of numbers of animals processed and euthanized should also be part of the regulations.
All of these issues will be part of our discussions when Joburg Council sets aside the Dog and Cat by-laws and agrees to formulate legislation that focuses on root causes of our problems. Please comment below to add your viewpoint – we need to make sure that the voice of animal welfare SA is fairly represented.
If you have not done so already, please sign our petition, which is an integrated part of our strategy:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/restrict-domestic-animal-breeding/
Derek
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