Neuter Cops, Not Dogs

The Illinois House just passed a rather macabre law requiring people arrested for felony drug offenses to neuter their vicious dogs if they have any. Now, I'm no animal rights activist (in fact, I believe it should be legal to hunt animal rights activists for food and sport); but I don't think dogs should be punished for the crimes of their owners, especially when the punishment is a total deprivation of their sexuality. (My previous tirade on the neutering issue here.) And if we're going to punish dogs for the offenses of their owners, we should at least wait until we actually convict their owners of something.

The goal of this proposed law is to clamp down on drug dealers who use dogs to protect their business by (ahem) clamping down on their dogs. Police fear being attacked by dogs during drug raids. Yet, it is the police who provoke the dogs by raiding people's homes, breaking down doors, pointing assault rifles at children and killing pets left and right. Dogs shouldn't be punished for defending their owners. And the police shouldn't be so militarized. Instead of neutering dogs, we should neuter the police. Or at least their power.