The bill for the reduction of reproduction of wandering (homeless) animals of Knesset members Ardan and Tirosh was passed at the second and third readings in a plenum of the Knesset by 31 Knesset members without objections. According to the law, the Agricultural Ministry will receive an annual increase to its budget of 4.5 million NIS, which will be used to deal with wandering animals, and among its methods will be neutering and castration. The goal of the law is the reduction in the amount of the wandering animals that are born and whom no one wants, a reduction in the amount of animals that are put to death in Israel and a reduction in the suffering caused to wandering animals, the majority of whom die from hunger, illnesses, abuse or traffic accidents. This important and revolutionary law put us side by side with the advanced western nations in every matter connected with the reproduction of homeless animals.
The bill went through long and legislative processes and many reservations, and along the way there were many opponents who objected to it. The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel, with the help of attorney Edan Abuhav, fought all the way in order to obtain a majority in all the voting in the plenum and in the Education Committee. Several times before the vote and on the actual day of the vote many of our employees and volunteers (all of them exposed daily to the suffering of homeless animals), went to the Knesset, and they convinced the members of the Knesset to support the law and to reduce the suffering of animals. There is no doubt that the love of animals and candid caring for their welfare, which was reflected in the eyes of our employees and volunteers and in the speech of the activists of the Society, caused many members of the Knesset to be convinced to support this law.
According to the estimate, each year about one hundred thousand dogs are abandoned (some of whom are brought to the various volunteer organizations and some of them abandoned in the street). In addition to them there are more than two million cats who are reproducing without any control. Unfortunately, the number of people who adopt pets each year is much smaller than the number of animals that are abandoned and homeless, and the results are an explosion in the population of the shelters and lives full of suffering for animals living in the street, lives which generally end in death that is accompanied by much suffering.
One of the solutions to the uncontrolled reproduction of animals is neutering and castration. These medical procedures are performed under full sedation and recovery is very quick. Similarly, there are many health advantages: the length of life of neutered or castrated animals is increased, their quality of life improves and the possibility of their falling sick with various illnesses decreases significantly. Castrated males are less aggressive, their tendency to run away, to wander and to chase after females is lessened, they don’t have fights with other males and they do not bother their owners and the environment. The castration of cats even lessens their tendency to mark territory. Neutered females are calmer, they don’t attract males, they don’t go into heat, and they live longer.
We at the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel, give our blessing to the new law. We hope that this is the beginning of an enlightened and humane period for animals and we are hoping for the day when we see fewer and fewer animals suffering on the street and the day in which the great stream of animals brought to the shelters will stop.
