Lily Rogers encourages us to provide low cost spay & neuter programs

Pet licensing isn't the way to solve this problem

I am appalled that anyone would see pets as a source of county revenue. What's next, licensing our children to raise revenue?

In a July 22 Forum ("How to kill two birds... but not another kitten"), Terri Mitchell termed people who do not spay or neuter their pets "slackers." Many people keep their pets inside where there is no danger of them being impregnated. To term someone a "slacker" because they don't want their beloved pet to undergo an elective surgery and to advocate charging them an obscene fee for not having their pet spayed or neutered is uncalled for.

While I agree that decreasing the number of unwanted pets is a laudable goal, education and funding low-cost spay and neuter programs is a much better way to do it. We also need to encourage research for an injectable pet birth control that would make surgery unnecessary.

Some other things to consider:

• Many low-income families and elderly people may be unable to afford a fee. (I realize Ms. Mitchell suggested a $2 fee for pets that are spayed or neutered, but that would hardly cover the expense of hiring people to administer the program. Also, once a tax is enacted, government lackeys have a way of raising it whenever they need extra cash.)

• Those with unlicensed pets would hesitate to seek medical care for their pets for fear of being reported.

• The cost of administering a program.

• What happens when only the "breeders" are allowed to have cats and dogs capable of reproducing and they are restricted to two litters a year? Those of us not able to afford expensive purebred cats and dogs will no longer be able to enjoy the love and companionship of a pet.

We love and treasure our "free to good home" pets. The money saved goes to their medical care and having them spayed and neutered.

Everyone, not just the rich, deserves to enjoy the love and companionship of a pet. Perhaps if Terri Mitchell and others would work on ways to make owning a pet less expensive instead of more expensive there would be fewer homeless pets.

LILLIAN (LILY) ROGERS Biloxi