Does Spaying or Neutering My Dog Ruin Its Spirit?

Original article by S. Veigel 03/22/2014

Most of you probably know the answer to this, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say that they don’t want to “ruin their dog’s spirit” by neutering him. The irony in this though is that among the people I’ve heard this from they never let their dog mate. So if you’re not breeding the dog what’s you’re point? I’m not being cruel to the dog in pointing this out but I am wondering if you’re not projecting your own feelings onto the dog.

I’ll be the first to defend that dogs have memories, cares and intelligence much like us but sometimes we just take it too far. Dogs don’t analyze, plan ahead or wonder if they’ll ever be able to mate again and a sex drive has nothing to do with a dog’s spirit or energy. Charlie never lost any drive to track or act out. Dogs live in the present; something we could learn from them.

When I spay or neuter my dogs I do it because I do care about their spirit and emotional well being. The only thing I’m taking away is their frustration which can lead to aggression. If I’m not breeding dogs why on earth would I want them to be cooped up and frustrated? The other aspect to this is why would I want the species to over populate to the point where millions are homeless, sick and starving?

Not convinced? Consider This. The American Humane Association (AHA) https://www.americanhumane.org/  conducted a survey and had 1,000 shelters from across the country respond. Of those 1,000 shelters 4.3 million animals were handled and 2.7 million animals were euthanized. Only 25 percent of dogs and 24 percent of cats are ever adopted. At this rate we will never run out of animals that need a good home.

Still not convinced? Consider this. The A.H.A notes that “4.7 million dog bites occur in the U.S. each year.” “Approximately 92% of fatal dog attacks involved male dogs, 94% of which were not neutered”.

If you do care about your dog, spare it the frustration, don’t set it up for failure and don’t add to a desperate population if you don’t have a good reason.