CA- Women gives birth to a Litter of 8 babies

What Gives Los Angeles? Didn’t pet sterilization become law in this California City because of a perceived dog and cat overpopulation problem? It was only 1 year ago that Bob Barker was jubilantly proclaiming, “The next time you hear me say, ‘help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered’ I can add, ‘It’s the law in Los Angeles’.” And City Officials were saying “Los Angeles animal shelters took in 50,000 cats and dogs last year and euthanized approximately 15,000 at a cost of $2 million”- as if that is the measure of Overpopulation.

According to the quote above from the Los Angeles city officials, 30% of the animals brought to the shelter were euthanized (so 70% must have been adopted). Well according the National Data Analysis System, 81,174 children (in the state of California) were in “Out-of-Home Care”- in the custody of Child Welfare. Only 7,490 children (in the State of California) were adopted through a public agency- Less than 10% of the children were adopted. Well you didn’t euthanize them- so they are still costing money- are you calling this an overpopulation problem?

Mr. Barker and City officials- The number of human multiple births has increased over the last decades. According to the U.S. Natality Files in 1980, the total number of multiple births in the United States was 69,676 and increased to 101,709 in 1995, which represents a 46% increase in multiple births between these two time periods. Even though this evidence was for a study done in 1995, it still indicates that multiples have been increasing, and because of this the risks are becoming more of a concern for the mothers and fetuses of multiples. (From wikipedia)

Babies from multiple births are usually born premature, have a low birth weight, have and increased risk of cerebral palsy, and other health problems. These babies have extended hospital stays and often long-term heath care issues.

In the highly public case of Jon & Kate (plus 8), he lost his job because of the amount of work tending to a “litter of 6”. Good thing Americans are so voyeuristic and this family was able to make a living out of exploiting the family situation on Television.

Passing Spay/neuter laws for dogs and cats is a waste of time. Dogs and Cats are not the problem. Spend your time on issues that matter.