Comment on American XL bulldogs kill 22 sheep
Urbanfox@lemmy.world 9 months agoThe problem about selling only neutered dogs is that larger breeds (labradors, Newfoundland’s, boxers) need to hit maturity before being fixed to ensure proper growth and prevent future health issues. This can be up to 3 years.
Definitely not feasible when a bitch has a litter of 10 puppies that need to be kept for 3 years before being sold to their new homes.
tankplanker@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I’m afraid that’s an old wives tale, up there with not being able to spay a bitch until after their first period. Its owner preference as there are different health and behavior benefits doing it early or late, or somewhere in the middle.
Personally I would set it at 6 to 12 months, you do not want dogs leaving the mother too young and you need time to spot some of the behavior/health issues.
We have far too many dogs in the UK, just ask any dog rehoming centre, this is in part to massively reduce that problem while improving the health and behaviors of all dogs.
Urbanfox@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I’d love to see the studies if you have some links. My opinion was formed on a Cochrane analysis of several longitudinal studies for cancer specifically in bitches by breed, so anything I can add to my research would be appreciated.
tankplanker@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Since you already have a few, why don’t you go first, as its you that is making that claim to be an expert in this field. I am sure you have plenty of them if this is the case? Zero point me linking you to your own papers.
I outlined that many vets and associations relying on vets suggest its a trade off depending on what age you do neuter or if you do at all, rather than a blanket 3 year or not all approach that you suggested, implying that its the only option.
Urbanfox@lemmy.world 9 months ago
You must have misread, I’m no expert - just a biologist who tried to make an educated decision on when to spay my lab. Happy to cite sources though - looking again, the study I found most robust is longitudinal rather than Cochrane but had a very large data set which was my interest.
This for example helped me to decide to leave my spay until after 11 months.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7359819/
Feel free to share yours, it’s been a couple of years since I dug through research pieces, sharing information and forming educated opinions is key for good science.