Darren the Waving Goat,and SB250

Children visiting White Post Farm in Farnsfield near Nottingham often wave good-bye, so a friendly Anglo-Nubian goat named Darren learned to stand on his hind legs and wave back. He was featured on "Animals Do The Funniest Things" and he's fast becoming an internet superstar. Here's a short video.






And while you're smiling, we'd like to comment on a controversial subject -- Senate Bill 250, an attempt to pass a law requiring mandatory spay/neuter of cats and dogs in California. We don't live in California, but we do have an opinion on the subject.

Just today we read two blog posts with opposing views. Surprisingly, the one rooting for the bill to pass moderates comments. We left a polite comment that we disagree, with a very short explanation, and although the blog has been updated and another comment added, our comment has disappeared. So we're going to touch on the subject. It's okay to disagree. We won't delete polite comments.

We strongly believe spay/neuter should be voluntary. Jan volunteered all of us, and she would like to see more folks spay/neuter their pets. It isn't that we don't understand the millions of animals being killed (euthanized is too kind a word) in shelters each year. Jan used to photograph some shelter dogs and cats, knowing most every one would leave the shelter in a body bag. She knows how hard it is to convince humans to change their perspective toward animals, but she volunteers with the local Humane Society (not the shelter) to help educate and promote voluntary spay/neuter. And like Jan, we do not believe that mandatory spay/neuter will solve the shelter euthanasia population.

In the last months, we have read a number of articles stating mandatory spay/neuter does not work, but unfortunately, we don't remember who wrote them and we don't have time to search for them at the moment.

(Buddy, Mercy & Sam: Jan injured her ankle last night while we were walking her. No, we are not responsible. We got caught in a storm and Jan wanted to hurry back. She stepped up on a curb that was broken but appeared solid. It wasn't -- well, it wasn't in the one spot she picked. Broken concrete shifted and with all her weight on it, rolled her ankle. She nearly took us all down but we kept her upright long enough to get thoroughly drenched. And then it was a long, sloooooooooow walk home. She can't sit at the computer long today, so while she rests, we're typing before we get kicked off again.)

To quote from the ASPCA statement: "To the knowledge of the ASPCA, the only method of population control that has demonstrated long-term efficacy in significantly reducing the number of animals entering animal shelters is the voluntary sterilization of owned pets. .... There is also evidence that sterilizing very specific, at-risk sub-populations of companion animals such as feral cats and animals in shelters can also contribute to reductions in overpopulation. .... In contrast, the ASPCA is not aware of any credible evidence demonstrating a statistically significant enhancement in the reduction of shelter intake or euthanasia as a result of the implementation of a mandatory spay/neuter law."

So we're just going to refer you to this one article by the ASPCA, "Position Statement on Mandatory Spay/Neuter Laws."

Now, we have to run. Jan is grumpy and we need to go sit on her foot so she'll really have something to yell about.