From: gorski@pslu1.psl.wisc.edu (Tom Gorski)
Subject: Re: Get Your Pet Neutered
Organization: Physical Sciences Lab, University of Wisconsin
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 93 17:45:53 GMT

In many articles now we see a discussion of the neutering thread with
the ascii figure:

>>>
>>>  Are millions             ------------------------- 
>>>  of pets being   YES     |                         |
>>>  abandoned and ________\ |                         |
>>>  euthanized            / |                         |
>>>  every year              | GET YOUR PET NEUTERED!! |
>>>  in the US               | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
>>>  alone?                  |                         |
>>>                          |                         |
>>>                          |_________________________|
>>>

And we see much discussion about responsible breeders, the anguish
of euthanized, unwanted, wasted lives, and so forth.  

This leads me to toss in my 2 cents worth.  I have a point to make
which admittedly reflect my bias *against* Coercive or Compulsory 
neutering.

....

I happen to live in a somewhat rural area where dogs are popular.
People like to have dogs around, as pets, sentries, hunters, or for
whatever reason.  Now as it turns out, many of these folks don't
have a lot of money, especially the several hundred dollars that
a purebred dog may cost.  These are the people who read the want-ads,
and buy those mixed breed dogs you see in the paper.

Now you can argue all you want about the merits or lack thereof of an
owner who isn't willing to pay top dollar for a purebred dog from a
breeder.  But you must remember that just because someone has a budget
doesn't necessarily testify as to their worthiness to own a dog.  
Yea, life isn't that simple.

The fact is, there is a definite market for low-priced dogs.  Indeed,
it would seem to be fairly a sizable one, if a survey of the dog population
around here is any guide.  Informally, I would say that for every
purebred dog in the area, there's one or two mutts.  And the purebreds
aren't necessarily any better loved or trained than their mixed-breed
counterparts.

Abhorrent though the idea may sound to some, mutts have their place
in the dog market.  And as there will always be a demand for "no-frills"
low-priced animals, there will always be a supply of them.  Such are
the dynamics of our marketplace.  If I want to buy a $50 large, generic-type
dog, and all you have to sell me are $400 Labrador Retrievers, I need not
fear--someone will turn up who has $50 large, generic-type dogs to sell.  

I certainly wouldn't expect to see "Responsible Breeders" suddenly drop
their prices if by some happenstance the supply of mutts were to
dry up in a local area due to an unusually effective neutering campaign.  

Sure, to some extent the whole debate about neutering is about avoiding
the need to euthanize thousands of animals each year (a curious sentiment
in a flesh-eating society, but hey, that's a topic for another day).
But at the same time, it also seems to me to be about something else,
something quite easily understood:

   Money!!

My $.02 worth.

--Tom Gorski
*Responsible* ( --> my opinion, not yours! ) owner of Lloyd,
a 15 mos. old Yellow Labrador Retriever, who remains as yet unneutered,
lean and friendly, and runs like a shot.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs