Taxi’s Trials and Triumph

With his proud posture, handsome face and muzzle lightly tinged with gray, Taxi, at the youthful age of 8, personified the dashing but darling “American Gentleman.” Always the loving, happy and gregarious Boston, Taxi remained eager to romp and play, to walk, to run and to fetch.

Until recently, when his adoptive family suddenly rushed him in for emergency surgery because of a potentially life-threatening perineal hernia.

A perineal hernia is the protrusion of pelvic or abdominal organs through a weakened or ruptured pelvic diaphragm. And the organ most commonly affected is the rectum – either on both sides or just one. In Taxi’s case, only one side was affected.

Some breeds, including Boston terriers, are predisposed to this kind of hernia, and 93 percent of cases occur in unneutered males over the age of five. Sadly, due to his original owners’ negligence, Taxi was neutered only when he arrived at BTRC at the age of seven.

Had Taxi been neutered early in life, as most studies urge, this nightmare scenario could, in all likelihood, have been avoided. And yet, too many dog owners are still reluctant to neuter or spay their family pets, while even more remain unaware of the FACTS.

FACT: According to SPAY USA, an intact male dog, his intact mate and their intact offspring can result in the birth of more than 12,000 puppies within five years. And according to the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, only seven percent of dogs entering shelters each year are either neutered or spayed.

FACT: Spaying (removing the ovaries and uterus of a female dog) and neutering (removing the testicles of a male dog) are simple procedures that seldom require so much as an overnight stay in a veterinary clinic.

FACT: Half of all litters are unplanned. Why? Because pet owners don’t realize their puppies can have puppies of their own. Spaying and neutering their dogs before the age of six months can help break this cycle.

FACT: Since sterilized dogs can no longer reproduce, fewer unwanted litters of puppies will end up either on the streets or in shelters.

FACT: Female dogs who have gone through their first heat are 16 times more likely to develop the animal form of breast cancer than those spayed BEFORE their first heat.

FACT: Early spaying is their best protection against such conditions as pyometritis, a potentially fatal bacterial infection of the uterus, as well as ovarian and uterine cancers.

FACT: Intact females can become aggressive when they’re in heat, posing a risk to other animals and small children.

FACT: Early neutering of male dogs not only prevents unwanted litters, it also protects them against testicular cancer.

FACT: Early neutering helps curb many undesirable behavioural problems. If left intact, male dogs tend to mark their territory by spraying strong-smelling urine everywhere. In their desperation to mate, they will bolt from houses, jump or dig under fences, or escape during walks. Free to roam, they risk being hit by cars, fighting with other males, contracting communicable diseases, and even being stolen.

FACT: Neutering does NOT alter their “manliness” because dogs have no concept of their sexual identity, nor does it alter their personalities.

Each year in this country, tens of thousands of dogs are euthanized through no fault of their own. Why? Because they are unwanted strays, the tragic, yet avoidable result of over breeding and overpopulation. Why? Because there are simply not enough shelters or rescues to house them or enough available homes to either foster or adopt them.

The problem of dog overpopulation is a global one and requires a solution on a global scale. But like every journey that begins with a single step, this particular journey must begin with every dog owner. Those owners both informed and responsible enough to neuter or spay the dogs they love.

As for Taxi? His relieved and grateful family reports that he is doing “spectacularly well. His scar looks terrible, but we were assured that it looks worse than it really is. Our biggest problem has been keeping him quiet because he’s ready to jump and play! I’m in awe of him,” admits his beaming mom. “When we picked him up at the vet’s, I was told that we were lucky he was still there.”

Why? Because several members of the staff wanted to take Taxi home with them.

Why? Because “he had charmed the socks off them. He had been a perfect gentleman.”