Seattle Shelter to Spueter Pitbulls For Free

[TexasRanger]

Seattle Humane Society to spay/neuter pit bulls for free - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

The nonprofit said that thanks to a $50,000 grant from PetSmart Charities, it can offer the service to more than 750 dogs. Pit bulls, the society says, make up about 30 percent of all lost, stray and abandoned animals in local animal shelters.

The dogs will also be given free vaccinations, and a microchip to aid in helping lost pet owners find their dogs will be sold for $5.

This will be good for the breed and will hopefully cut down on the Pit X population and maybe make it harder for people to get their hands on these dogs and breed them for fighting.

[Doberluv]

Awesome!

[lizzybeth727]

The city shelter in Austin does this too (my friend helped write the grant that funds it). The trouble, as always, is to get the pit owners - particularly the ones that use the dogs for fighting - to bring their dogs in to get spayed/neutered. I think the shelter here actually has volunteers who go door-to-door offering to take people's dogs to be spayed/neutered.... Don't know what else could be done for that problem.

[Romy]

While it's awesome that they are offering free altering for folks who couldn't otherwise afford it, it does bother me that it's specifically targeted to pit bulls.

What about all the bajillions of labs and herding dog Xs getting euthed? Those and pits are probably the two most common types in our area. I mean, what do they think the pits are getting mixed with?

It would sit a lot better in my conscience if it was just for all low income dog owners who wanted their dogs altered, and not just pits. This feels like some underhanded way of trying to eradicate pits from the gene pool without generating bad press.

ETA: and dogfighting has never really been an issue in washington state, especially king county.

[Paige]

I agree Romy. All sorts of low income families would benefit from free spaying and neutering of their pets. Not just the pit bull owners.

[Miakoda]

I have to agree Romy. It's really nothing more than a lower form of Breed Specific Legislation. They don't care about all the other dogs out there being bred out the wazoo, just quit breeding "pit bulls" so soon the world can be free of them.

While I want irresponsible people to have their dogs spayed/neutered and want to help those who want it done, it just gets under my skin that these things are always for "pit bulls".