Spaying/neutering... not so risk free...

I am on an e-mail list that discusses guinea pigs. They are wonderful creatures, and they are cuter than the puppies owned by my sisters (each has one). They are loving, and a bit smarter that you can imagine (put it this way, never rustle a plastic bag within earshot of my brother's guinea pig - he will start asking for a treat, and it actually sounds a little bit like he is crying out "Treat!" "Treat!").

So, when on the list someone loses their beloved guinea pig, I feel rotten inside. I have been there twice, having lost a pair of guinea pigs.

But a loss announced earlier this week is all the more heartbreaking. Apparently, the owner had taken the guinea pig, a young boar (that's a boy) to be neutered. The guinea pig entered the vet's office alive and well, but after the operation, the guinea pig had some trouble and died.

Which is why I have decided that as a pet owner, I will not put any animal I own through elective surgery - to include spaying or neutering. Unless the animal needs the surgery for a valid medical reason, it ain't happening.

LA micromanages pet owners,,,

It seems that Los Angeles has decided that they have time to micromanage pet owners.

I can accept the notion that a pet owner should be held responsible for the life, health, and happiness of the pet. But with that responsibility needs to come the right to make the decisions. Spaying/neutering is surgery, and surgery has risks.

I had a guinea pig who suffered an injured leg. To set said leg would have required that he be anesthetized. Only guinea pigs sometimes have adverse reactions to anesthesia, or at least they did back in the 1980s. That had to be taken into account.

But I had the right back then to make the calls. The City of Los Angeles clearly feels that they have the time and resources to boss pet owners around.

After all, it's not like Los Angeles didn't have bigger problems to deal with.

The new obesity epidemic...

Apparently, there is a 50-50 chance that a dog or cat in the UK is overweight.

I can just imagine the reaction that will come from animal-rights activists.

Have no fear, Zoey the Chihuahua is here . . .

All dogs go to Heaven . . .

. . . but Zoey the Chihuahua rates head-of-the-line privileges.

Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath in his grandparents' northern Colorado back yard when the snake slithered up to the toddler, rattled and struck. Five-pound Zoey jumped in the way and took the bites.

'Nuff said.

Micro-management defeated...

It seems the pet-ownership micromanagement bill in California has gone down in flames.

What grates on me - and probably most pet owners - is the fact that this was a coercive bill, and one that would have met with massive civil disobedience. I don't deny that there are bad pet owners - that is true in any ownership group (guns, cars, etc.), but the best option is to focus on the bad apples, and not pass such blanket measures that are little more than collective punishment.