All pet stores should be prevented from selling animals unless those animals are already neutered. Now, I'm really talking about cats, bunnies and dogs more than anything else. I don't see too many guinea pigs on the streets peeing on our cars' tires.
Irresponsible pet owners buy a cute little bunny for their children or grandchildren for Easter and then, after the first cage cleaning, dump it on the streets. I have three that I have rescued. (No "shoot 'em and eat 'em stories, please.) :-) These are domesticated bunnies for pets.
I believe that trapping, neutering and returning a feral cat is much smarter than removing it to be euthanized. Why? Because they'll maintain the cat colony that already exists, especially when there's a food source such as a dumpster. If you remove the cats you'll just get more in their place. If you trap/neuter/return it's a win, win. You won't have the males crying all night for the females, you won't have cats looking for food (especially if you have someone like me who feeds them at night.) The cats actually control our mice and roach population which I can prove from the treasures one of mine have brought home.
For those of us who love animals and watch how badly they are treated and abused, we understand that something has to be done. I do believe in euthanasia for the hundreds of thousands that the shelters can't house, but there are ways that aren't being implemented that can reverse this over-population. If you don't like animals, or cats, then you probably couldn't care less.
Animals should never be revered the same as human life, but that doesn't mean they deserve to suffer either. I have a soft heart for cats especially so I'm currently working on my own little corner of the world (the alley). Have had two breeder female cats spayed and returned and I'm in the process of finding homes for two litters. Feral kittens are easily socialized if caught early enough, and feeding ferals only helps to keep them healthier. Most of them suffer horribly from mange and ear mites and end up dying from upper respiratory infections. It's actually rather sad.
The other issue is breeders. It's out of control and needs to be better controlled.
These people have their hearts in the right place but, like PETA, tend to become overly emotional and/or militant. We do need some changes to current laws about selling fertile animals and there are many from other cultures who haven't got a clue. A dog is purchased to sit on a rope forever. They throw a little food and water at it and that's it. A bunny sits in a cage too small to even move around in and they think that's humane. Come on......
One other thing....it would be nice if somehow us rescuers had a place to go for help in financing our work. Most of us take in more animals than we save, because many times we get calls like..."Come and get this pit bull or I'm gonna kill her. She ate her puppies." Only to find out the caller was lying and that he just didn't want the mother after she had her pups that he wants to sell. The horros stories are endless. We spend alot of our own money trying to make a dent in the ocean of need.
This is an interesting approach.
Ok, how about all pet stores can retail neuters and spayed.
If someone needs breeding stock, than they need to see a breeder?
I'm a home breeder of rabbits for therapy. They are dwarfs used in counciling sessions with psychiatrists and therapists.
In the local news recently, a naive man bought a pair of bunnies for pets. within a few months, he was infested with some 70 bunnies. They burrowed into his furniture and more.
But, now that I lend it more thought, a friend of mine ended up with a similar problem with gerbils. She started with a pair and ended up with over 100.
This does need some more thought.
The task force working on this here in NJ are of unreasonable extremes and politically motivated.
I don't like animal abuse, because those who abuse animals eventually move up the food chain.
That said, I do NOT like some of these "mandatory spay/neuter" policies. People can make their own calls on this just fine - they don't need government going all nanny-state on them.
That said, I'm a guinea pig person myself who's had cats also grow on him to an extent. One thing I've thought about as a hobby down the road is being a guinea pig breeder, so I am going to try to keep the option of that hobby open down the road (I admit self-interest on my part).
So let's work on dealing with the abusers, and leaving the rest of the folks alone. I'm all for enahncing the penalties for animal abuse, etc. But at the same time, let's CLEARLY define what abuse is (for instance, I hear terms like "puppy mill", but it seems there's no definition of a "puppy mill" - it comes down to "I know it when I see it" and that is NOT how I think our laws ought to be written).