Home Neutering of Dogs in Canada Sparks Outrage

The practice is horrific. The dogs suffer. Yet people still attempt to save a few bucks by neutering their dogs at home.

You wouldn't think that an SPCA would have to speak out pleading with people to not neuter their dogs by wrapping industrial rubber rings around their testicles, causing intense pain and suffering. But that's exactly what happening in Canada. 

Kaley Pugh, manager of protection services at the Saskatchewan SPCA, is fielding reports from vets about the practice, and she's had enough. She told CBC News, "This is not an acceptable practice in dogs. They really do suffer a lot when you do this to them."

"The photographs I've seen are quite shocking," said Pugh. "Animals with significant wounds and bleeding and rotting tissue still attached to the animal."

Pugh says the SPCA could start to prosecute owners, according to CBS News. "Owners who put the health and safety of their dogs at risk through home neutering practices may be charged for violations of the Animal Protection Act and/or the Criminal Code."

Apparently, the practice is done on farms to livestock, using "elastrator rings" (which is itself controversial). Some dog owners think the practice is transferable to dogs. It is not. It's torture. Aside from the extreme pain, the dogs lick and chew the area, causing intense trauma.

Dr. Terri Chotowitz of the Cumberland Veterinary clinic in Saskatoon told CTV News, "There's no way you can get that [elastrator ring] tight enough without causing a lot of discomfort for the dog. I can only imagine how much chewing and licking and trauma they are doing to that area, trying to get that off. To use an elastrator ring is terrible and it doesn't make sense on any level."

Don't think for a minute that this is Canada's problem alone. Last April, a dog named Rocky, suffering and bleeding, was dropped off at a vet in Billings, Mont.

"It initially looked like somebody had surgically removed the testicles on that dog themselves," executive director of the Yellowstone Valley Animal, Chris Anderson, told TKVQ News. "As we started to do more surgery, we realized that we ... we found a rubber band ... and that maybe they had actually tried to band the testicles on an adult male dog. And the dog, literally, chewed its testicles off."

Both Billings and Saskatchewan, incidentally, offer low-cost spay/neuter services. 

"I wouldn't even call it neutering. It's torture. It's absolutely torture," Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president of PETA's Cruelty Investigations Department, told the Huffington Post. 

PETA is offering a $5,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone who attempts home neutering. 

"I want people to understand that this is illegal," she said. "And to make sure there are no copycat cases."

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