In the 20 years Jenn & I have been living together, we’ve shared our home with six cats (four still living), one dog (still annoying), one lizard (in hiding), five mice (gone to the great exercise wheel in the sky), and forty or so fish (each buried at sea in a solemn ceremony, except for Gil, who is happily swimming upside down in Jenn’s office.)
The large mammals — dog and cats — have all been spayed or neutered after being rescued or adopted. The four male cats and the dog never seemed to notice that anything was missing. They never paid much attention to their furry little empty scrota. They never looked at me accusingly for having their balls removed without consulting them. They never developed complexes or syndromes as a result of their manhoods being removed.
So, I just don’t understand Neuticles — testicle replacement implants for dogs, cats and horses. While too many animals remain unspayed or neutered, resulting in hundreds of thousands of unwanted cats and dogs being euthanized each year, I really wonder if it is the actual removal of the testicles which causes “Many caring pet owners [to] hesitate or even to refuse to neuter their pets…”
Are the pet owners really worried about how their ball-less dog will look? Or is it more likely that they haven’t the time or the money or concern to take their pet to the vet for the operation? Or is it that they are interested in breeding the pet? Or is it religious objections, if the cat is Catholic, for example?
Of course, since only 50,000 pets had the Neuticles implanted between 1995 and 10/2000, I don’t think it’s a mass phenomenon. I just wonder about the owners of those 50,000 pets…
