For the last few weeks, we have been working pretty hard to talk a bigtime rescuer into spaying-neutering the 100 over dogs in his shelter.
He has repeatedly refused because of his own beliefs, ie. if he spays-neuters the dogs, he himself might not be able to produce children in his next life. He also said maybe the dogs would not be able to reproduce in their next life (as dogs? humans? or another beings?).
It was extremely hard to convince him as he is very staunch in his beliefs, ie. he is worried about his own future and whatever repercussions spaying-neutering animals would have on him.
I have often been asked if there are bad repercussions resulting from participating in spay-neuter, in my public talks.
To this, I lay out the pros and cons, as such:
Cons:
1. We do not have the permission of the animal to get him/her spayed-neutered.
2. The capture and the operation would cause some pain and stress to the animal. In unfortunate cases, the animal might even die, but this is uncommon because our vets would examine the animal physically, check its history, before performing the operation. This is to minimise the risks of fatality.
Pros:
1. We stop the reproductive ability of the animal, and hence, prevent hundreds of unwanted pregnancies, births and untold suffering on the streets.
2. We lessen the chances of breast cancer and testicular or prostate cancer in the animal.
3. We control the population in every colony, hopefully we reduce the number of complaints from people who hate animals, and hence, reduce the number of animals being captured by the councils.
An unspayed female cat can reproduce 4 times a year and an unspayed dog 2 times a year. By simple arithmetic, it’s an exponential increase.
If anyone of us has seen the suffering of street animals, held a dying baby animal in our arms because she or he is rescued a few hours too late, or visited those animals captured or born in the pounds and those who die a miserable death on the streets, one would see that the pros outweigh the cons.
We did everything for him, but failed to save his life.
We are still trying to convince that rescuer to spay-neuter his 100 over dogs (we’re doing it for free, mind you). But if he continues to resist, we’ll have to just respect his beliefs and wish and hope for a good life for his dogs.
Spay-Neuter is NOT killing.
Euthanasia at the pounds is.
Being rolled over by a car is.
Dying of starvation on the streets is.
In every religion, as far as I know, we are taught NOT to kill. Spay-neuter is NOT killing. It may result in death IF things go wrong sometimes, but our intention is NOT to kill. Euthanasia IS killing, whatever the reasons, whatever people call it, it IS killing.
“Karma”, as far as I understand, is “intention”, not action. What is our intention in getting them spayed-neutered – to save them and to prevent unwanted offsprings from being born. What can be so evil about that? Animals are ignorant and cannot practise birth control. They act on instinct, not intelligence or reason when it comes to matters of reproduction.
I have been told repeatedly not to humanise animals and I won’t. I’m told that dogs and cats, especially the females, do not enjoy the sexual act. Only humans and dolphins enjoy it. The sexual act is an instinctive act in them. If the female animal gets pregnant repeatedly, there is danger of pyometra or death in her later years.
During the Ketam tragedy, we made a few trips up to talk to the village leaders. One leader told me it is wrong to spay-neuter as it is interferring with nature. True. But is it right when the councils go in to kill the animals or the people capture them and drown them in the sea? Is that natural? To this, he replied, “That’s them doing it, not me, so it’s none of my business”, and he walked away. Then I asked, “If I offer you a way to control their population so that they won’t breed anymore, are you interested?” He said no.
As much as I agree we do not have the consent of the animal to get it spayed-neutered, I believe very strongly that we are doing a lesser evil by getting them spayed-neutered rather than to leave them on the streets to be captured, to die or to suffer.
But as always, it takes all kinds to make the world, so we’ll just do whatever we think is best for the animals.
Comments
5 responses to “Of “karma”, intentions, and spay-neuter”
Just some thoughts about what is "natural"…
I grew up in a very rural area. Few people spayed & neutered their cats and dogs. Why? We had an abundance of predators to keep the populations under control. Kittens, cats and puppies routinely became dinner for large birds of prey, foxes, coyotes, wolves, bears, weasels, and other animals further up the food chain.
Of course it's painful to find the remains of a pet after a predator has done its work, but it's much less painful than seeing a pet killed by a car, or a council dog-catcher, or left on an island to starve to death.
There is nothing natural about feral animals trying to survive in urban areas. There is no food chain at work — they are simply victims.
I hope this man will change his thinking. With 100 dogs in his shelter breeding at random, he will be overwhelmed within no time. And what will his understanding of karma tell him to do then?
I also think of it this way – the practise of sexual restraint and/or celibacy is always praised by many schools of religion. Animals cannot and do not know how to do this. By spaying them, we are giving them the chance to be more than "animals" – i.e. survive and reproduce. A chance to live a better healthier life free from the burden of reproduction. Freedom from sexual anxiety.
all things considered, CNRM is still the best. i would say it is the lesser of all evils as nothing is perfect in this imperfect world. of course if a big time rescuer says he or she can care properly for all his rescued doggies and their subsequent offsprings forever, then let it be so. but if we are rescuing and then rehoming the rescued dogs, it would be better to neuter them first. definitely the lesser of all the evils. so keep up the good work Dr Chan… yeah, it takes all kind to make up this world. how can we find a perfect solution in an imperfect world? ….. kttan
A person who really loves animal will, at any cost, find ways to give them a contented life & not be interested in his own beliefs & future.
Just imagine what will happen if he lets them keep on reproducing? In no time, there would be thousands with unknown future.
Its a shelter and not a farm. How would he manage them in the long run? If he is no longer "here", what is the fate of those poor souls.
Authority out there, is simply waiting to pounce on these poor souls and he is paving way for their dog-pound death.
This must be made known to the ignorant person.
Religion is how we practised it.I use my own discretion in the Karma part. Some believe that we should leave things as it is, 'It is Karma'. Tell me would you put an animal to sleep when you can't afford the medical bills anymore; when the vet said it is for the better or you would do this. Dump the animal at the market site, hawker site to survive on its own. You want good karma and it is the dog's karma. Only to find out a few days later other dogs have mauled the dog. One ear missing, eye gorged out…etc. Which is more painful? Put Karma aside and do the best to ease the suffering of another living thing or just walk away…it is the dog's karma. Let the bad karma be mine, I cannot bear to see another bitch starved and could hardly walk but…carrying pups inside her poor body. 🙁