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Originally Posted by Woogie Man  If the data is accurate, it makes it kind of ironic to health test breeding dogs for genetic issues to maintain healthy lines and then go do early spay/neuter and condemn at least a percentage of puppies (and their owners) to major health risks. This is one of those 'damned if you do....damned if you don't' issues. Do we now consider this issue in what makes one an ethical breeder? |
I think health screening is a different issue. Breeders health screen because they want to eliminate any inheritable bad traits or conditions that can be passed to the offspring. From reading the article it seems that early spay/neutering can increase the chances of a number of serious heath issues that the dog would not encounter if they were not spay/neutered at a very young age. So those breeders that advocate early neutering and call those that don't unethical better reconsider. How would a breeder feel if they have their pups neutered at a early age and those pups grow up with all kinds of health problems and then the puppy buyers will blame it on the breeder. You are right....you're damned if you do and your damned if you don't. Those that think breeding is easy....think again....we are all still learning.