SUPPORT SPAYING OR NEUTERING OF DOGS

 

Central Idea: Overpopulation of dogs is a serious problem that affects all people of the United States and can only be solved by supporting the spaying or neutering of all dogs kept as pets.

 

Introduction:

 

  • I. I worked at the Humane Society in San Antonio for two years and never will forget those years.
  • A. I got the opportunity to experience first hand what most people would like to ignore or forget.
  • 1. I got to see the euthanasia, or merciful putting to sleep of hundreds of healthy, beautiful, friendly dogs.
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    2. There, just simply, were not enough homes for all of these dogs.

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    II. The reason for this overpopulation of dogs (which affects the entire country, including Columbus) is that owners of dogs refuse to get their pet spayed or neutered so that it cannot reproduce.

  • A. From my survey, I found that the majority of you (my class) do not own dogs and of those who do own a dog, already have it spayed or neutered or plan to have it done; on the other hand, most of you agree that the overpopulation of dogs is a problem in our society today.
  • 1. Unfortunately, those people who do not own dogs are also affected by the overpopulation of dogs in several ways.
  • a. First, an overpopulation of dogs creates a large number of dogs roaming the neighborhood, any of which may bite you or your kids.

    b. Second, everyone’s tax dollars support the dog pound which takes care of and puts to sleep many of the unwanted dogs.

    III. So, you can see that the overpopulation of dogs affects everyone--owners of dogs or not.

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    • A. I’d like to convince everyone in the class to support the spaying or neutering of all pet dogs--whether it’s their own dog, their friend’s dog, or their neighbor’s dog--by highlighting the problem, the cause of the problem, and the solution to the problem.

    (Transition: First, the problem.)

    Body

    I. The problem is simply that there are too many dogs and not enough homes for them.

    A. When people domesticated dogs, they took on more than just gaining a companion, watch dog, herding dog, or seeing eye dog.

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    1. People gained the power to "play God" for dogs and control their breeding habits.

  • 2. Unfortunately, people didn’t take their job seriously enough and bred dogs too much, causing an overpopulation of them.
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    B. Did you know that the leading cause of death of dogs is the euthanization of the unwanted ones?

  • 1. According to Dr. Bonnie Wilcox, veterinarian and columnist for Dog Fancy magazine, for the time you’ll have spent listening to these speeches tonight, 800 dogs in this country will have been put to sleep because nobody could give them a home.
  • a. That amounts to three and a half million dogs a year whose only fault in life was the fact that they were born.

    b. There just are not enough homes for all of the dogs which are born in our country.

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    • C. This overpopulation of dogs is such a problem because not only are stray dogs the carriers of parasites and diseases that also affect humans, but they can also be vicious and bite you or your family (especially children).

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    • (The cause of this problem of an overpopulation of dogs can be blamed on all dog owners who do not have their pet spayed or neutered.)

     

  • II. The cause of this overpopulation of dogs is that dog owners do not have their pet spayed or neutered.
  • A. Some pet owners are uninformed about the spay and neuter operations and either are afraid to have it done, or have it done too late.
  • 1. The operations are very safe and should be performed when the dog becomes sexually mature at six months of age.

    2. Dr. Peter Roach, author of The Complete Book of Pet Care, emphasizes that the operations result in many long-term health benefits, including a drastic decrease in the potential to develop cancer of the reproductive system.

    3. The operations also decrease or eliminates undesirable behaviors like the behavior of a female dog in heat or the embarrassing mounting behavior exhibited by male dogs.

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    B. Some pet owners are irresponsible.

    1. Some people breed their dogs to [quote] "carry on their line" or make money.

  • a. Dr. Wilcox notes that "Most dogs, even purebreds should not be bred . . . [most] have defects of structure, personality or health that should not be perpetuated."

    b. According to Kathy Diamond Davis in her book Responsible Dog Ownership, dog breeding, if done correctly, isn’t a money-making process.

    -After totaling up the money spent for food, shots, deworming, housing and unseen health problems for both the mother and puppies, there is rarely a profit.

    c. Avid dog lovers agree that breeding should only be done by experienced and knowledgeable dog owners whose goal is to improve a breed of dog by creating puppies that are better than their parents.

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    • 2. Some people just allow their dogs to roam and breed indiscriminately.

  • a. Newsday magazine points out the fact that if two dogs and their puppies were allowed to breed unhampered for six years, a whopping 67,000 more dogs would be produced.
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    • (The solution of this problem rests on everyone--dog owners or not--to actively support and encourage the spaying and neutering of all pet dogs.)

     

  • III. The solution to the problem of dog overpopulation is the education of all people, dog owners or not, about the advantages of spaying or neutering dogs and about how serious the problem of dog overpopulation is in our country.
  • A. All dog owners should leave breeding to the experts and have their pet spayed or neutered.

    B. All people who do not own dogs should encourage anyone they know who owns a dog to have it spayed or neutered and pass along some of the facts that I have related to you.

    1. Remember that everyone pays taxes that run the city dog pound.

  • 2. Also remember that by convincing only one owner to have their dog spayed or neutered, you have saved the lives of many dogs which may have been the unwanted offspring of this one dog.
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    • Conclusion

    Bibliography

    Davis, Kathy Diamond. Responsible Dog Ownership. New York: Macmillan, 1994.

    Marcus, S.A. "Pets: The Cat and Dog ‘Crisis’." Newsday 8 July 1995: B11.

    Roach, Peter. The Complete Book of Pet Care. New York: Macmillan, 1995.

    Wilcox, Bonnie. "Pondering Puppies?." Dogs USA 1 Nov. 1993: 34.