Are you a cultural conformist? A few days ago, I would have
answered, NO! But after reading this book, I realized, I have succumbed to the cultural
demands and mantras regarding dogs.
Our two-year-old Beagle-Maltese starting marking his
territory, inside the house, and we figured time to get him “fixed.” Before we
made the appointment, the thought occurred to me, I should check this book
sitting in my to-be-read pile and see what it has to say about neutering dogs.
Yup, there’s a chapter on that, and so I skipped right to it
and imagine my surprise when I read that while spaying and neutering dogs does
save millions of unwanted animals from dying unnecessarily in shelters,
altering your dog and denying him of essential sex hormones could end his life
prematurely. But what about marking and humping, you know, those “undesirable”
traits that we’ve been taught as a culture can easily be resolved by castrating
your dog? I felt like an idiot when I read (what I really already knew down in
my core) that a dog can be trained to behave appropriately. If a dog is exhibiting
undesirable behaviors, look to his person in charge.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Kerasote does an excellent job of
presenting both sides of the issue. There are benefits to spaying and neutering,
but these are NOT the only options if your reason for altering your dog is
merely birth control. There are other procedures that can accomplish this –
tubal ligation and vasectomy just to name two.
The essential sex hormones can help protect your dog from
cancers and orthopedic injuries. “In North America, hemangiosarcoma is the
leading cause of death for Golden Retrievers, a good reason to think carefully
before spaying or neutering a dog from this breed” (page 340).
There’s also a chapter on immunizations. Yes, your dogs need
to be immunized, but do they need all of those shots every single year? Studies
are finding that many of the immunizations actually last much longer than
originally thought, and giving your dog unnecessary immunizations can
eventually comprise his health. And if you never board your dog in a facility
with a large number of dogs and never take your dog to dog shows, why are you
having him receive bordetella and coronavirus shots which prevent kennel cough?
I was highly impressed with the content of this book, but I
was also very impressed with Kerasote’s ability to weave technical and medical
information into the writing without boring me out of my mind. Kerasote doesn’t
just tell us what experts he interviewed and the information gleaned from them,
but he also describes what that expert looked like, what he or she wore, and
where they sat during the interview. Kerasote takes us on the journey with him.
This is the first book by Ted Kerasote I’ve read. I highly
recommend it, and I am looking forward to reading his other books as well.
If you love dogs at all, even an ounce, this is a must read
book.
What are you reading?
No comments:
Post a Comment