Spay & Neuter, Animal Welfare, and Overflowing Animal Shelters: A Multi-Country Comparison
- Eileen Koval
- 1 day ago
- 18 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
By: Eileen Koval, CDBC, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, MSc
(This was taken with minor edits from a graduate course paper that I recently authored at Husson University examining animal welfare legislation worldwide in the area of dog spay and neuter.)
Federal animal welfare legislation in the United States does not address companion dog sterilization practices, so individual state and local regulations differ between municipalities controlling the sterilization of companion dogs (Hodges, 2010). The American public has placed significant pressure on municipal shelters including Nevada’s Clark County’s public animal shelter, to reduce euthanasia of the surplus pet population and achieve “no kill” status. This public goal of reducing surplus pet population has dove-tailed with individual state legislation and municipal regulations requiring spay and neuter of all pet dogs, usually before puberty, to decrease the pressure on animal shelter to house, adopt out, or potentially euthanize surplus pets (Hodges, 2010). The surplus dog population is a serious and growing problem throughout the US and especially in Clark County, with the shelter pet population exploding dramatically after the COVID pandemic. The municipal animal shelter experienced a 30% increase in animal intakes and a 91% increase in shelter animal euthanasia from 2021 to 2022. This occurred despite Clark County regulations requiring spay and neuter of all dogs prior to sexual maturity (Gentry, 2023; Clark County Nevada, n.d.).
Nevada state law does not require pet sterilization, but Clark County regulations require all pet dogs to be sterilized by a veterinarian by four months of age unless owners first obtain a breeder’s permit. The penalty for failure to sterilize is not directly stated in the regulations, but it is determined by Clark County Animal Control depending on each individual case. Enforcement is not proactive with inspections for individual owners, so enforcement generally is confined to situations in which Animal Control is already present due to suspected welfare issues (Clark County Municode Codification, n.d.). University of Minnesota sociology professor, Carol Glasser, conducted an online survey of US adults. She found that the vast majority (81%) supported spay and neuter to reduce the pet overpopulation. A huge majority (71%) also believed that sterilization was the moral choice. However, a similar majority of respondents (71%) also believed that the choice of spay/neuter should be left up to individual pet owners and not required by law. While Americans overwhelmingly believe people should spay and neuter their pets, they also do not think it should be forced onto pet owners through legislation (Glasser, 2021). Spay and neuter policies in the United States have reduced the euthanasia of shelter dogs from over 13 million per year in 1973 to under one million in 2021. Some shelters have asserted that the spay and neuter messaging has been so effective at reducing the pet population with responsible owners that there are not enough behaviorally-healthy shelter pets available for adoption in some communities. This has led to a growth in the numbers of unlicensed backyard breeders and commercial puppy mills producing litters to fill the public demand for puppies (Wogan, 2021).
The United States has no existing federal law requiring the sterilization of pet dogs, and it also does not have any laws forbidding it. Of all the countries examined in this article – the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden – the United States is the most permissive in that there are no federal bans on animal amputation/mutilation, no federal requirements for a veterinarian to perform sterilization procedures, and no federal or state requirements for dangerous dogs to be sterilized (Hodges, 2010; GOV UK, 2024; Animal Legal Historical Center, 2025; Farstad, 2011). The United States’s Animal Welfare Act and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 legislated by Congress outline animal welfare provisions at the national level for dogs. However, neither piece of legislation prohibits or regulates elective procedures on dogs, including sterilization procedures. Sterilization in the United States is largely enforced through municipal Animal Control offices, with varying regulations and penalties depending on the municipality (Clark County Nevada; Hodges, 2010). Most individual municipalities throughout each state have their own requirements for mandatory sterilization of adopted shelter dogs or for dogs residing in homes within their municipality. Despite no singular law, early sterilization is mandated throughout much of the United States through local municipal regulations (Hodges, 2010).
Multi-Country Comparison
The United Kingdom is similar to the United States in that national legislation permits the sterilization of pet dogs, but also does not require it for the vast majority of pet dogs. The UK’s Animal Welfare Act of 2006 prohibits procedures that mutilate the body of captive animals including pets, but there is a provision to allow a veterinarian to perform procedures that prevent unwanted reproduction (GOV UK, 2024). The exception in the UK is that sterilization is required before twelve months of age for dogs categorized as dangerous due to their breed or crossbreed. This is enforced by the local municipal police, and the penalty is potential impoundment and euthanasia of the dog if owners fail to comply (GOV UK, 2025). Germany’s Animal Welfare Act is similar to the United Kingdon’s welfare laws in that it expressly prohibits the mutilation or amputation of an animal. It acknowledges that these procedures are painful and requires that all operative procedures require treatment for pain. However, it provides exception for a veterinarian to perform procedures to prevent unwanted reproduction (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2010). Sweden’s Animal Protection Act is similar to Germany and the United Kingdom by granting an exception for castration in its prohibition of amputation and mutilation. Any sterilization procedures in both Germany and Sweden must be performed by a veterinarian with the use of anesthesia and treatment for pain (Farstad, 2011; Animal Protection Index, n.d.; Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2010). The animal welfare acts in both Germany and Sweden state that animals have intrinsic value, and that their worth is not defined by what they provide to humans. Their animal cruelty assurances are enforced by county administrators who exercise the power to conduct inspections and bring charges. Animal welfare violations are considered a criminal act in Sweden that can result in fines and a maximum of two years imprisonment (Animal Protection Index, n.d.; Länsstyrelsen, n.d.). Germany’s animal welfare laws are overseen by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry, with municipal police departments tasked to handle cases of animal cruelty at the local level. Animal cruelty and welfare violations are both civil and criminal in Germany. Punishments for violations depend on the severity, ranging from monetary fines to three years imprisonment (Deutscher Tierschutzbund, n.d.; Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2010).
Legislative welfare protections heavily reflect mainstream societal attitudes toward captive animals’ roles in a particular society. The European Union – of which Germany and Sweden are member states – has officially recognized animal sentience since 2009, and acknowledges that all animals can experience pain and suffering. This formal acknowledgement reflects that while humans control animals, it is important to consider the animals’ psychological experience to minimize pain or suffering (Compassion in World Farming, 2009). This is written into legislation in both Germany and Sweden, and it stands as the basis of their animal welfare and anti-cruelty laws (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2010; Länsstyrelsen, n.d.; Animal Protection Index, n.d.). The United Kingdom officially recognized animal sentience in 2022 and acknowledged the importance of welfare for sentient beings who are capable of experiencing pain and distress due to human actions (Legislation.uk.gov, 2022). However, the United States does not recognize animal sentience and still legally considers animals to be property according the Animal Welfare Act. The ways in which humans use the animal determines how those animals may be treated under US law. Differing welfare laws – or no welfare laws – may apply to the same species depending on the animals’ purpose in society. There are US federal protections for laboratory research animals, but there are no federal protections to guarantee welfare or restrict painful procedures for privately owned animals, regardless of species (National Archives, 2025). With animals being considered property in the US and without sentience recognition, humans can make decisions regarding animals’ bodies for their own benefit and without consideration of the effects on the animal (National Archives, 2025).
The global public, including in the United States, have evolved in recent decades as people have become more aware of the physical and psychological benefits to the animals themselves of delaying sterilization until after sexual maturity -- or avoiding sterilization entirely. Some veterinary clinics are offering ovary-sparing spays and vasectomies to allow dogs to retain their hormones while eliminating the possibility of unwanted litters (Nolen, 2021). Some changes in US societal attitudes may be due to increasing public knowledge of potential negative health and behavior outcomes that have been correlated with sterilization. Recent research has demonstrated increased incidence of behavioral issues in sterilized dogs such as fearfulness and aggression, as well as various types of cancers and joint issues in particular breeds (Vendramini et al., 2020; Hart et al, 2020; Howe, 2015). In the United States, spay and neuter is promoted as a routine and non-invasive surgery, which is reflected in the post-care that canine patients receive. A 2024 study by Adams and Muñoz found that only 16% of dogs in Michigan were discharged with pain medications to take home following spay and neuter procedures (Adams and Munoz, 2024). Another 2024 study (Bergquist et al.) found that only 26% of canine and feline sterilization patients were provided with analgesic medications to be given at home following spay and neuter procedures. Approximately one-third of veterinarians in the survey expressed beliefs that pain medications post-discharge were unnecessary despite the procedure involving the removal of internal organs (Bergquist, 2024). Contrastingly, veterinarians in the UK performing canine spay surgeries overwhelmingly reported using post-operative pain management treatment for 2-5 days post-spay. No veterinarians in the UK study reported using post-operative pain management for less than two days following a canine spay (Martino-Boulton et al., 2025). Societal perceptions of animals’ abilities to perceive pain and experience suffering likely shape cultural dog sterilization practices. Germany and Sweden both classify spay and neuter procedures in the same category as amputations and mutilations, which are outlawed with an exception for sterilization. This categorical classification with a noted exception also clearly conveys a societal perception of sterilization as a serious, elective procedure that can potentially cause physical and psychological harm to the animal (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2010; Farstad, 2011).
The push for pet sterilization has historically come from animal shelter messaging and advocacy groups such as the ASPCA and Best Friends Animal Society. The messaging sought to frame sterilization as a necessary part of pet ownership and beneficial to both the animal and the human. There was an avoidance of discussion on the pain or risks of sterilization, but instead a focus on potential benefits to the human owner (History of the ASPCA, n.d.; Best Friends Animal Society, n.d.). The animal agriculture lobby provides massive donations to US state and federal politicians to ensure welfare legislation is minimal. The lack of welfare legislation ensures that agricultural animals and also pets remain as “property” without welfare protections to restrict procedures such as sterilization, tail docking, de-beaking, and other common amputation and mutilation procedures. Any recognition of animals’ abilities to experience pain or psychological distress could result in the implementation of additional welfare legislation that could affect industrial operations and profitability. The animal agriculture industry has drastically increased political donations in recent years to members of Congress and candidates who oppose animal welfare legislation. Meat industry lobbyists, including agribusiness giants Tyson and Cargill, spent over $10 million in 2023 in political donations to influence policies that favor their continued operations, which includes the continued absence of meaningful animal welfare legislations (McCracken, 2024; Schnide, 2025). While the meat industry likely does not possess a vested interest in whether pets are spayed or neutered, they are an important player in the continued absence of legislation that addresses animal sentience and acknowledgement of animal pain or psychological distress. This likely also reflects the continued absence of any legislative prohibitions or regulations in the United States on the mutilation, amputation, or other elective procedures (Schnide, 2025). Animal agriculture lobbyists also exist in the European Union, but US lobbying groups in this category spent 65% more on political donations and influence than their EU counterparts over a six-year period (Bluhm, 2024). These practices are common in the animal agriculture industry and would likely fall under the same guidelines as elective sterilization procedures on pet dogs if such legislation were created, similar to the prohibitions on mutilation in Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
While animal sentience remains to be recognized in US legislation, the US public is also becoming more aware of animals’ ability to experience pain and stress in similar ways to humans. This is evidenced in the consumer demand for products seen at pet stores that reduce post-sterilization stress, such as softer, less restrictive alternatives to the traditional plastic e-collar, and clothing that covers sterilization stitches to forgo the e-collar altogether (McConnell, 2021). In recent years, increasing numbers of pet guardians and veterinarians in the United States have been attempting to find a balance between the perceived need to sterilize animals to prevent unwanted dog pregnancies and reduce health risks, while also balancing the best interests of the individual animals. Veterinarians have been engaging in conversations with pet owners to determine the most appropriate time to sterilize based on the pet owner’s needs and concerns, and the risks of various cancers or joint issues for each individual animal (Nolen, 2021). This has also been fueled by recent research studies published in the United States that evaluate the best times to spay and neuter to achieve particular outcomes, such as reducing potential cancer risks and prevention of joint disorders (Howe, 2015; Hart et al., 2020). Other studies have evaluated the prevalence of aggression and fearfulness with dogs based on the age of spay or neuter. A 2018 study showed a 26% increase in serious aggression toward unfamiliar people in neutered males. As this information has spread, pet owners are realizing there may be unintended negative behavioral consequences to choosing to sterilize their dogs (Farhoody et al., 2018; Starling et al., 2019).
Concluding Thoughts and Possible Avenues Forward
US legislation around sterilization is far behind the rest of the Western world with the lack of awareness regarding the individual experience of the animal with invasive procedures, acknowledgement of the intrinsic value of each animal, respect for their bodily integrity, and the lack of regulations to ensure invasive procedures are performed in a way that minimizes pain and harm to the animal. Existing US state laws primarily reflect the attitude of dogs are personal property without regard for their capacity to experience physical and psychological harms (National Archives, n.d.; Hodges, 2010). Heavily corporate lobbying from the meat industry has ensured that federal legislators protect the interests of humans by stopping the progression of any further federal legislation acknowledging animal sentience or the emotional experiences of animals that would make the need for regulations undeniable (McCracken, 2024; Schnide, 2025). Besides this, the original objective of spay and neuter in the United States was to reduce shelter euthanasia by reducing the surplus pet population (Hodges, 2010). Still, an estimated 70-80% of US dogs are sterilized, but dogs are still overwhelming animals shelters every day due to stray and owner-relinquishments. The most common reason for animal relinquishment is due to behavior issues (Coren, 2023; Kisley et al., 2024). The number of animals euthanized at animal shelters increased by over 30% from 2022 to 2023 (Shelter Animals Count, n.d.). According to Shelter Animals Count’s 2024 statistics, 13% of shelter dogs were euthanized in 2024 and only 65% were adopted into new homes. The UK has faced similar difficulties with increasing owner relinquishments of dogs to shelters. Shelters acknowledge performing euthanasia on unadopted pets, but they do not disclose those statistics. About 70% of dogs in the UK are sterilized (Allen, 2020). UK animal shelters are increasingly facing cases of dogs with aggressive behavior that make them unsafe to be adopted into new homes. They also face dogs, especially brachycephalic breeds, that are relinquished due to expensive medical issues that also pose welfare issues for the dog as an individual (Loeb & Gray, 2024). About 50% of dogs are sterilized in Germany, but they are still facing filled animal shelters (Allen, 2020). Germany has a no-kill policy for dogs living in their animal shelters, but their shelters are struggling with excessive numbers of pets relinquished with severe behavioral issues and expensive medical cases that are very difficult to adopt to new homes. Only 18% of their animal shelters had available spaces in August 2024 (Deutscher Tierschutzbund, 2024). Only about 20% of Swedish dogs are sterilized, yet stray dogs are uncommon and the euthanasia rate is nearly zero (Herzog, 2018). Swedish police have seized dogs from their owners and occasionally euthanized dogs if they behave aggressively and pose a continued risk to the public. Swedish laws heavily focus on the ultimate responsibility of both breeders and dog owners to develop dogs who behave non-aggressively, behave predictably, and who can be safely controlled in public space (Sarenbo, 2019).
Countries with high rates of sterilization do not have lower rates of shelter occupancy and shelter euthanasia than countries where sterilization is uncommon. Further research is necessary to fully explore the social and cultural issues underlying this phenomenon. However, a common correlation between US, UK, and Germany shelter relinquishments is dog behavior issues. US shelter organizations have long asserted that sterilization would help improve dog behavior issues, yet the countries with higher rates of sterilization have full animal shelters and dogs surrendered due to behavior issues who cannot be placed into new homes (Deutscher Tierschutzbund, 2024; Coren, 2023; Kisley et al., 2024; Loeb & Gray, 2024; ASPCA, n.d.; Best Friends Animal Society, n.d.). US legislation provides little guidance to US pet owners on the basic physiological or psychological needs of pet dogs, the normal behaviors of dogs that may be viewed as problematic, guidance on appropriate training methodologies for pet dogs to prevent or treat problem behaviors, and no acknowledgement of their abilities to experience pain and suffering. This is a cultural problem that affects both pet owners and veterinary professionals’ perceptions of dogs’ physical needs and emotional experiences, as demonstrated in the two research studies in which few US veterinarians felt that dogs experienced significant pain following spay or neuter procedures to warrant pain medications following hospital discharge (Adams and Munoz, 2024; Berquist et al., 2024). Clark County legislation currently states that dogs must be sterilized by four months of age by a veterinarian, but it does not state how it should be performed (Clark County Municode, n.d.) These legislative and knowledge gaps could potentially be remedied by changing the county animal welfare regulations to include a requirement to minimize pain during the procedure. The regulations could shift the focus from amputating dogs’ anatomy to prevent procreation and instead focusing on owners’ responsibility to maintain control of their dog at all times outside the home in public spaces, and that dogs behave non-aggressively in public. Similar to the Swedish legislation, this would place the responsibility on owners to train their dogs and take action to prevent them from free-roaming and pro-creating (Sarenbo, 2019). These could also be combined with mandatory veterinary continuing education classes in animal behavior and body language to address the veterinary knowledge gap around how dogs experience pain and suffering with invasive procedures. This could result in veterinarians changing how they recommend sterilization due to better understandings of the procedure as invasive and resulting in pain and suffering for animals. It may also improve how they treat post-operative pain in their canine patients.
The public dissemination of scientific knowledge has already resulted in some improvements to dogs’ overall welfare with spay and neuter, as demonstrated in the recent surge of interest from pet owners and veterinarians in delaying spay and neuter and products that reduce stress associated with the procedures (McConnell, 2021; Nolen, 2021). To address knowledge gaps with the public, the county could also offer public education seminars on the biology, natural behaviors, and body language of dogs to provide people with necessary information before acquiring a new pet dog. This would help them to understand what will be required to care for a new dog at an appropriate level of welfare before they make the decision to purchase or adopt a dog. It would also help guide them to the right breed and individual dog for their lifestyle. Animal Control could also sponsor educational seminars for all children in public schools. Children would learn about dogs’ biological and behavioral needs, basic body language of dogs, the impacts of human behaviors on dog welfare, ways to reduce pain and stress to dogs, and that dogs are a life-long commitment. This knowledge would inform owners’ sterilization decisions and help owners recognize human actions that may cause pain or stress in dogs. It would also potentially alter human behaviors to create more responsible and understanding dog owners who are less likely to relinquish their dogs to animal shelters (Baatz et al., 2020).
This type of education initiative was already successfully completed in a research study by Baatz et al. (2020) that provided educational classes to children on animal sentience and responsible dog ownership. The children who attended the classes scored markedly better than the control group for positive attitudes toward the needs and feelings of dogs and positive attitudes of responsible dog ownership. Education has the potential to shape human attitudes and behaviors that could improve decision-making and practices surrounding dog sterilization. Beyond this, public education may ultimately solve the underlying problems that have made sterilization a commonly promoted practice in the United States (Baatz et al, 2020). Improving welfare around sterilization may be more easily addressed at the local level through municipal regulations than through state statutes and federal legislation due to the heavy lobbying of the agriculture industry (McCracken, 2024; Schnide, 2025). There are no existing state or federal statutes addressing sterilization, but local Clark County regulations regarding sterilization already exist. It may be most effective to strengthen those existing regulations, as described above, and combine this with educational outreach to veterinarians, the pet-owning public, and children to improve dog welfare with sterilization, and also reduce the surplus dog population in the county.
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Eileen Koval, CDBC, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, MSc (in Operations Management) is a fully certified dog behavior consultant with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC). She is currently working toward a M.S. in Applied Animal Behavior and Welfare at Husson University. She believes the foundation of a good cross-species relationship is understanding the needs and normal behavior patterns of each dog as an individual, as he/she was bred to be. She enjoys helping humans and dogs communicate more effectively to create brilliant relationships with joy, purpose, and fulfillment for all species involved. She offers private consulting for serious dog behavior issues, obedience/manners, and agility training. Eileen developed a unique online course to help pet parents and trainers develop reliable snake avoidance behavior off-leash through positive reinforcement techniques. These techniques have been applied by trainers worldwide to teach dogs reliable avoidance of dangerous environmental hazards and off-leash property boundaries. She lives on a small ranch in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and their Nederlandse Kooikerhondjes.
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