Oh look at what the crooks in Alburquerque are trying to do

[Steelfiredragon]

http://www.koat.com/news/29523931/detail.html

a pup needs an abortion to get out of the pound.

extortion
rackateering blackmail
animal cruelty

dogs like people can have alleric reactions to anethetics.

[Xabulba]

Fixed link

So what? Many cities around the country have laws like the ones pointed out in the news link.

This is not a case of extortion, racketeering, blackmail or animal cruelty it is the law. If the dogs owners obeyed local laws and had the proper pet license and medical tags none of this would have occurred and the family could have dealt with the unwanted litter of puppies themselves. As the owners chose to ignore the local laws they now have to pay for their crimes.

Every pet, not working dogs or breeding animals, should be spayed or neutered if only to control the animal population.

[Steelfiredragon]

if that is the only reason than its still wrong.

[Xabulba]

Steelfiredragon wrote:

if that is the only reason than its still wrong.

And having a wild population of thousands of stray dogs and cats that cause hundreds of thousands dollars of property damage and attack pets and children is right?

[Lincoln Hills]

I sympathize with the family and the dog involved, of course. But there are nasty necessities involved in animal control.

I'm writing from Mexico. Believe me when I say that averting animal suffering is the whole point of spaying/neutering. Many parts of both Mexico and the US are plagued by vast colonies of feral cats that wipe out prey species and out-compete local small predators. Colonies of feral dogs are rife down here, scavenging from waste food during the tourist season and then starving to death by the hundreds when times get tight - they're not savvy enough to hunt in the wilderness, and are occasionally even a danger to people, especially children. A colony that's been spayed/neutered is better than one that is exterminated - not just for moral reasons but because it continues to occupy the same space, keeping still-reproducing colonies from taking advantage of the territory and food supplies. Oh - then there's the 70 percent reduction in dog bites for fixed vs. 'intact' dogs, the fact that feral populations form a perfect vector for family pets to catch diseases and parasitic infections...

The main upside is that an increasing number of pounds now affiliate themselves with some kind of adoption program, so that well-adjusted dogs and cats who go to the pound are not automatically on death row. If the notion of animals dying needlessly upsets you, go adopt one. Go on. The Paizo boards will still be here when you get back.