So the right thing, it is said, is to keep animals from reproducing, and the easy solution to this is to surgically alter them so they can't reproduce.
This may be justified, but
neutering is just one way of achieving this goal. Neutering is an invasive procedure that drastically affects an animal's biological processes.
There are alternatives to this from as simple as proper containment to tubal ligation and vasectomy.
These are
much less invasive and respectful, but the problem is that people are brainwashed into this "be a responsible pet owner, have you dog or cat spayed or neutered" paradigm... and because veterinarians make so much profit from these procedures, they rarely suggest the alternatives - or even explain the risks.
www.neutering.org