I think so. :( I have always held the extremely unpopular opinion that spaying and neutering animals (read mutilating them) is extremely cruel and immoral. But what can be done? I used to say, let the dogs run around like any other animal would. We have no right to keep them from breeding.

My neighbors are from another country, and they do not keep their dogs in the same way we Americans do. I have observed this over and over again. I also notice that people others would label "rednecks" do not keep their dogs in the same way most Americans do. The dogs are free to come and go as they please, and they always do come home for food and rest, etc.

I always have to have a dog in my life. They bring me so much joy and unconditional love that I just have to have them in my house. I love my dogs SO much that I cannot let them run around since it's not safe for them. Our culture would capture them or hit them with a car. Truth be told, I think most dogs would take the risk of being hit by a car and be free over being at the behest of their humans. My dog LOVES to be free. He loves to go into the woods and run off his leash. It's really important to me that I give him that opportunity often. I feel guilty when he asks me to go outside and I don't drop everything to do it. Because he's sacrificed his life and freedom to live with me.

My dog loves me like no other. The way he looks at me with admiration and full trust and love.... He thinks I'm the greatest thing on the planet. :) But I also think it's a sort of Stockholm syndrome.

It's not something I'm going to put a lot of moral guilt into because this is the way our culture is with animals, and I don't see that making any big changes in the future. I also wanted to add that where I was going with my neighbor's dog who's from another country.... I learned the difference between a domesticated dog and a DOG. It is not the same. I always got nervous walking around while he was wandering. He would stalk me. It floors me to think that in other countries packs of dogs roam the streets! That intrigues me! That's how it would be in America if we didn't mutilate the reproductive organs of dogs. I see no solution. We love our cats and dogs, and I'm just gonna go with the flow about it and treat my guy as good as I can and feed him fresh food, let him live without a collar indoors, and get him out into the woods often.