[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

I totally agree with this, as it pertains to ALL discussions here. We should be able to have 2-sided+ discussions without the need to weaponize our words, in my humble opinion. It's SO EASY to get your point across *without* hurting anyone...I don't know why that proves so difficult here at YT, at times.



I too think Gail absolutely epitomizes a truly loving and devoted pet Mom, without a doubt.

I'll be totally honest here - I don't think Zoey should've been brought up. Zoey has nothing to do with this thread, so it appeared as if she was being used as a dig toward Gail. I stress appeared bc I can't speak to anyone's true motives or intentions. If a correlation had to be made btwn spay/neutering and heartworm prevention as they relate to responsible owners, it could've been expressed as "Even responsible owners end up with tragic issues like cases of heartworm, unintended pregnancies, a yorkie dropped on its head, xyz example etc". I think it could have been said in such a way that was less personal. Just my opinion. Take or leave. Blah blee. No skin off my back if you think I'm a nutball.

As far as s/n - I'm thrilled that Gemy started this thread and I always think it's an important conversation. Heck, to be a huge devils advocate -- there are some that say that s/n very clearly does NOT work -- bc if it actually DID work, we would not be killing 4-6 million animals EVERY SINGLE YEAR without apparent end. There are countries all over the world who do not advocate for spay/neutering -- rather, they have the kind of respect for other living creatures that should put Americans to shame, in my opinion. The end to overpopulation is WAY more complicated than s/n our pets. Should we still s/n? Yes, we should in many cases bc s/n is an arm of the solution toward ending overpopulation...but it will never, ever be an end-all be-all solution to this problem. Not even close.

So, while I believe in s/n in most cases - I also fully support responsible ownership of intact pets whose owners prefer they maintain their natural and very important hormones. The choice to s/n or not and why/why not is a great discussion - so thanks to all in this thread !

Since I am that "she", I will once again say there was no evil intent on my part bringing up the fact that Zoey had HW when it Gemy's husband accidentally missed their dogs HW treatment. All I was trying to do was point of a truth that responsible owners with intact animals can make mistakes. It's just like the thread the other day where a family was a few days short of a rabies vaccine and now their 10+ dog is locked up for 6 months because it encountered a skunk. Everyone was outraged but the point that Crystal was making is that people do not alway comply fully with basic things......"things happen" and "there should be exceptions" were a few of the excuses.

I will never ever believe that keeping intact animals should be thought of as a mainstream idea no matter whose supposed research might be out there. Yes, hormones might be great idea in a world of rainbows, unicorns and butterflies that some might live in with their amber beads and Mosi-Q holistic treatments while chasing away the fleas, ticks and mosquitoes with pills that are .0000000001% of some flower essence the idea of not contributing to the issues of all the overpopulation of animals in this country far out ways the very few people that should even consider themselves in this group. Like I'm stated previously, people are just looking for a reason to include themselves in the group of "responsible pet owners" and things like these articles by the likes of Dr. Becker with her holistic agenda and relationship with Mercola is enough to make me not want to hear another word. The FDA has been after Dr. Mercola for years for his false claims of holistic health, anti vaccine and unfounded sales pitches for the products he sells on his hugely profitable websites. Dr. Becker is right in there with him working the pet angle. FDA Orders Dr. Joseph Mercola to Stop Illegal Claims