My wife and I—yes Steph, finally, a blog about you!!!
Anyway, my wife and I have had an at-times heated debated over the years about spaying and neutering animals. She’s in favor, I’m opposed. But then she’s from California and “those people” tend to be legislation happy! I keep telling her that one of these days, if that state doesn’t fall off into the Pacific Ocean first, there will probably be legislation enacted to control how much carbon dioxide a human is allowed to exhale. Imagine having to buy carbon offset credits because your lung capacity is too high and you emit too much CO2!!!
I continue to work on her but if you know the power of a wife, she wins even though she
thinks she doesn’t win often enough. For instance, we had another debate years ago. We called it our “Great” Debate. It wasn’t great because of the
length or the strength of the debate, but rather because of the topic. We were going to get a dog. (I wanted a child, she wanted a dog—more on THAT later.) I wanted a GREAT Pyrenees, she wanted a GREAT Dane. Hence, the “Great” Debate. If you know us or have seen the post “First Day of School“, you’ll know who won. Bitch! No, I mean the dog… female Great Dane! (I would NEVER call my wife such a thing!!!)
Next dog is a Pyr!
On to Gracie, our female Dane. BTW, in England, where I did live for a time, a male canine is a “dog” and the female is a “bitch”. Used to be that way here too so get over it!
Back to Gracie. Since I’d never had a female dog before, I had no idea what happened every month. You’d think I’d realize that they’re menstruating mammals too but oh no, I had to find out the hard way. While I don’t generally support spaying, in this case I saw the light.
So let’s clarify. What exactly do I object to? The government mandate to spay and neuter dogs and cats. I believe it’s overstepping the bounds of government and may even be a conspiracy backed by professional animal breeders. Like with music, you can buy it, but you can’t “make or download illegal copies”. And so if all personally owned dogs and cats are incapable of being used for breeding, the industry survives intact. Apparently, back in sunny California, the governments there feel such requirements are OK and that they reduce unwanted litters and related issues.
I can see that. So my response—the response of any self-respecting Republican—is responsible ownership. This differs greatly from the liberal position of having a welfare state government that tells you what to do in every aspect of your life.
Responsible ownership includes fences, leashes, controlled access to other animals, and even confinement of the pet. It means not letting your cat roam the backyards and alleys. It means using a fence to keep your animal in and other animals out. You get the idea.
Well, yesterday, lamenting the fact that not a single one of my posts features her, Steph called to tell me about Guangzhou, China. It’s her type of town. Aside from the Chinese cuisine which I’m sure she’d love, the leadership of Guangzhou has passed a policy that goes into effect July 1 and restricts ownership of a dog to one per family. This policy is an attempt to curb the uncontrolled reproduction that has the city’s streets crawling with stray and abandoned pups. It has pet owners upset and rightfully so. Some cities in China have killed tens of thousands of dogs already.
In their defense, I should point out that these unfettered dogs have also contributed to thousands of citizens dying from rabies each year. Then too, China is a socialist country so rules are made to be adhered to, not to please the people.
Here’s how I look at it: If it works for China, good for them. I don’t plan on going there any time soon. If it works in California, good for them too. For a time, gay marriage worked for them too, but that’s not saying much about California!
But I live in Indiana, in a subdivision in Indianapolis where largely, people are responsible owners. We get the occasional stray through our yard though. Just last night, I saw a cat bounding through the back. Still, we tolerate them—right along with the deer, squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, moles, mice, rabbits, ducks, and who knows what else.
If you happen to travel to Guangzhou, China, after July 1st, a word to the wise: Don’t order the “Beef” Stir Fry!!!
Final Note: So in 2000 we got a dog… and in 2002, we got a son. So we both won, it just took a little longer for me to win!
MORE:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3zvLkFXwrO0Tx6gIkkHS1UFt5FgD98SJC5G1
http://story.chinanationalnews.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/9366300fc9319e9b/id/509660/cs/1/