The AKC position on spay/neuter: legislation bad

Now that AB 1634 is effectively dead, I thought I'd mosey on over to the AKC (American Kennel Club) site to see what information they provide to the public on spay/neuter.

A text search of the home page shows the only reference to spay/neuter is an alert about the final hearing for AB 1634. So I did a site search for spay neuter. All the results point to pages talking about spay/neuter legislation, with the top link going to their "action center" page.

OK fine. I'll dig through their pages manually. I go to their Guide to Breeding, including the page on Sending Your Pups to Their New Homes; no mention of spay/neuter on these pages. I went to their Responsible Breeding page and their Puppy Tips page: nothing. I went to the Dog Owners page, with its section on Responsible Dog Ownership, and there it is in item 84 out of 101: Spay or Neuter. I also found a section on it by digging down through Health/Overview/Healthy Dog section.

So there you have it. For the 99.99% of people who casually visit the AKC site, or even dig around at a high level, their perception of the AKC's stance is spay/neuter legislation is bad. And unfortunately, human psychology will tend to generalize that to spay/neuter is bad.

The AKC is sending the absolute wrong message to its site's visitors regarding spay and neuter. I encourage them to fix their design and flip the focus. Bury the legislative alerts info and promote the message to spay and neuter your dog.

Comments

[Sandra Thomas]

Exactly right! The AKC does not support spay/neuter legislation because of the loss of revenue that it would mean for THEM! Most people that purchase animals that are altered do not register their dogs. Most people that purchase a puppy on a spay/neuter contract do not register their dog. That means millions of lost revenue for the AKC. NONE of the dog registries support legislation for mandatory spay/neuter, not that one would expect any of the other to do so anyway, but the AKC? The place that sets itself up as an example for responsible dog ownership? They should be ashamed. Of course, they are not alone in the position they have taken. There are several supposedly animal protection/rescue/humane organization that are not supporting the mandatory spay/neuter legislation either.......and for the same reason. If there are no more stray dogs and cats........they are out of business and there goes their multi-million dollar charity.

If the program is done with logic and keeping the welfare of the animals at the forefront, this tragic situation can be changed. People, especially the low-income dog and cat lovers, will need low cost vouchers to get their animals altered. Without it, the program will not work. It is by far less expensive to give the vouchers away than it is to care for and eventually euthanize the animals that end up in shelters.