Your plan of sterilising and vaccinating dogs then releasing them to run free is sweet, but impractical for many reasons.
- health in general: that's a lot more doggy do, a lot more opened rubbish/garbage bags, a lot more torn carcases left to rot when the dog's had his share.
- pack mentality can make for a very dangerous situation. Imagine a pack of hungry strays and a little kid on its own. Not safe.
- general menace - a dog bite hurts even without the danger of contracting rabies, and can cause a lot of damage to a person (or their pets, for that matter). A frightened, threatened, uncontrolled dog is dangerous.
Re no-kill shelters: they're great, but don't have unlimited resources. Until enough people donate enough to deal with all unwanted dogs, I'm afraid that euthanasing them is the best option. (Or the least worst option.)
And frankly, people don't even donate enough to look after the unwanted people in our countries let alone the unwanted animals. Where do priorities lie?
- health in general: that's a lot more doggy do, a lot more opened rubbish/garbage bags, a lot more torn carcases left to rot when the dog's had his share.
- pack mentality can make for a very dangerous situation. Imagine a pack of hungry strays and a little kid on its own. Not safe.
- general menace - a dog bite hurts even without the danger of contracting rabies, and can cause a lot of damage to a person (or their pets, for that matter). A frightened, threatened, uncontrolled dog is dangerous.
Re no-kill shelters: they're great, but don't have unlimited resources. Until enough people donate enough to deal with all unwanted dogs, I'm afraid that euthanasing them is the best option. (Or the least worst option.)
And frankly, people don't even donate enough to look after the unwanted people in our countries let alone the unwanted animals. Where do priorities lie?
*MySmiley*
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
This Is Why I Like Dogs So Much More Than I Like People (Animal Rescue Workers: I LOVE You!)
- 27/03/2011 03:20:40 PM
1654 Views
Louisiana has a bit more on its plate than adorable animals.
- 27/03/2011 06:14:01 PM
962 Views
No doubt, and I respect that; it's tightening the budget by killing animals that bothers me.
- 27/03/2011 06:37:17 PM
1132 Views
Feral dogs are dangerous and destructive. It's not really an option.
- 27/03/2011 06:48:06 PM
791 Views
I don't know that they are, at least, not any more so than feral cats or feral teens.
- 28/03/2011 04:27:44 PM
747 Views
how many people are mauled by house cats?
- 28/03/2011 04:57:32 PM
698 Views
Me, for one; I don't have complete stats on everyone though.
- 28/03/2011 05:06:57 PM
869 Views
How many stiches did it take to fix it?
- 28/03/2011 06:42:31 PM
867 Views
About as many as it would've taken from a Cocker Spaniel or a Chihuahua.
- 01/04/2011 12:25:22 AM
973 Views
It is animal control not planned parenthood for dogs
- 28/03/2011 03:13:02 AM
834 Views
Interesting how that comparison keeps being made....
- 28/03/2011 04:26:38 PM
841 Views
Yes, it is easier to kill animals than have them roaming the streets.
- 28/03/2011 09:36:31 PM
943 Views
I made myself a promise.
- 27/03/2011 11:28:02 PM
732 Views
I'm fairly upfront about my opinion of the value of human life vs. animal life, yes.
- 27/03/2011 11:51:07 PM
903 Views
Well, we differ on this, certainly.
- 28/03/2011 05:14:44 AM
943 Views
how very 1960 of you
- 28/03/2011 02:15:11 PM
782 Views
Ok... trying to do something about no longer being poor is a choice, though.
- 28/03/2011 02:37:15 PM
767 Views
a large percentage of poor are children
- 28/03/2011 03:14:16 PM
814 Views
I wasn't saying it was easy and uncomplicated, I was saying that if you do not make any effort
- 28/03/2011 04:13:27 PM
791 Views
The myth of poor people being lazy is largely exactly that. *NM*
- 28/03/2011 08:42:58 PM
372 Views
Are you saying that I'm saying poor people are lazy? To be sure, I'm not. *NM*
- 29/03/2011 11:04:17 AM
373 Views
You also have to consider pack animal behaviour.
- 27/03/2011 06:45:14 PM
913 Views
And stray dogs probably spend most of their lives starving. Hardly pleasant for them. *NM*
- 27/03/2011 06:58:16 PM
415 Views
"Probably" is a big word, given the alternative.
- 28/03/2011 05:12:07 PM
753 Views
As someone who had to put down her healthy dog: the injection they use is very peaceful.
- 28/03/2011 05:17:01 PM
805 Views
That sounded a lot more insensitive than I meant it to be, sorry.
- 31/03/2011 11:39:54 PM
877 Views
don't forget all the wildlife they kill *NM*
- 28/03/2011 03:17:02 AM
406 Views
Wildlife kills a lot of wildlife; "it's the ciiiiircle of life".
- 28/03/2011 04:59:27 PM
843 Views
and like a market economy that works great until you start subsidizing one side
- 28/03/2011 05:15:32 PM
848 Views
I've lived in a lot of cities and around a lot of dogs but never seen a feral dog pack.
- 28/03/2011 04:28:32 PM
869 Views
Are you serious?
- 28/03/2011 08:48:54 PM
700 Views
Re: Are you serious?
- 28/03/2011 08:53:50 PM
868 Views
Yeah, it's similar to arguing against antiterrorism by saying we haven't been recently attacked. 
*NM*
- 28/03/2011 10:06:29 PM
346 Views
*NM*
- 28/03/2011 10:06:29 PM
346 Views
Except that we don't have millions of stray terrorists on Americas streets.
- 31/03/2011 11:19:13 PM
824 Views
It's not even certain that's lowering the stray population, but there are still enough for packs.
- 31/03/2011 11:17:59 PM
916 Views
I'm planning on volunteering at a no-kill shelter in NJ when I go.
- 27/03/2011 11:31:02 PM
837 Views
Sweet, and the prospect of volunteers at no kill shelters changes the economics greatly. *hugs*
- 28/03/2011 04:26:29 PM
921 Views
It is sad but what can you do?
- 28/03/2011 03:05:40 AM
858 Views
Well, that's one good idea right there.
- 28/03/2011 04:44:25 PM
777 Views
a vasectomy would probably cost more than neutering but still be simpler than being spayed
- 28/03/2011 06:37:17 PM
741 Views
Sounds like the difference would be negligible either way, but the results far more positive.
- 31/03/2011 10:47:10 PM
698 Views
I'm not sure how this would be helpful?
- 28/03/2011 06:04:26 PM
749 Views
I don't think it is wrong to neuter a dog for behavior reasons
- 28/03/2011 06:35:16 PM
830 Views
I was with you until...
- 28/03/2011 09:09:14 PM
744 Views
I said it was the cynical side of me not the rational side
- 28/03/2011 09:31:22 PM
869 Views
Liberals are bigger fans of animal control than conservatives?
- 28/03/2011 09:49:35 PM
680 Views
If you could only choose one, it would be better to choose the female.
- 28/03/2011 10:03:44 PM
723 Views
WHY??? *NM*
- 28/03/2011 10:08:30 PM
348 Views
Wait, no, you're right.
- 28/03/2011 10:13:58 PM
759 Views
no no you were right
- 29/03/2011 02:18:44 AM
752 Views
Ah, yeah. I was assuming 100% sterilization, which is unfeasible. Never mind. *NM*
- 29/03/2011 03:16:22 AM
354 Views
Ghavrel, nooooooooo! Give reason and ethics a chance first!
- 29/03/2011 03:27:29 AM
958 Views
I already said it makes sense to do both. I definitely support neutering!
- 29/03/2011 04:01:09 AM
960 Views
I think you just made my point
- 29/03/2011 02:16:19 AM
793 Views
Eh forget it. Not worth my time. *NM*
- 29/03/2011 03:10:03 AM
824 Views
proably true. I should know better than to fight faith with reason
- 29/03/2011 03:15:49 AM
859 Views
I'm not here to debate doggie sex *NM*
- 29/03/2011 03:15:56 AM
711 Views
that is good because from what I can tell the subject escapes you
- 29/03/2011 02:34:37 PM
788 Views
Considering that it's much harder to fix females than males
- 28/03/2011 10:07:47 PM
794 Views
how hard it is makes zero differience
- 29/03/2011 02:25:17 AM
778 Views
For the uneducated of us (i.e. me)
- 28/03/2011 09:40:07 PM
806 Views
Vasectomy: sterile but will still want to mate. Neutered: no mating behavior at all. *NM*
- 28/03/2011 09:56:41 PM
372 Views