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twitterPet sterilization. Not mandatory, yet
Las Vegas City Council to consider law aimed at reducing animal overpopulation
Steve Marcus
A 12mm AVID (American Veterinary Identification Device) microchip is displayed at the Bonanza Cat Hospital Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009. The Las Vegas City Council soon will be weighing an ordinance that would require dogs and cats over the age of four months be spayed or neutered, except under special circumstances. The ordinance also would require implanting a microchip in dogs and cats before being adopted or recovered from an impound.
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009 | 2 a.m.
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Sun Archives
- Animal breeders, activists clash over bills (4-6-2009)
- Groups oppose pet ordinance requiring sterilization at 3 months (11-12-2008)
- Groups work to mitigate Henderson’s feral cat problems (10-22-2008)
- Boulder City won’t stop euthanizing feral cats (10-15-2008)
- She’d ‘legalize’ feral cats to save them (8-13-2008)
- Shelters, rescue groups work to save abandoned pets (10-1-2008)
Beyond the Sun
Last year more than 55,000 stray animals landed at local shelters. Almost 31,000 ended up being put to death.
Experts say those numbers, if unchecked, will continue to rise in this economy, as home foreclosures prompt some owners to abandon pets and the downturn spurs unlicensed animal breeders to chase quick profits.
In an effort to address pet overpopulation, the Las Vegas City Council will today introduce what would be the toughest spay-and-neuter ordinance in the region. The proposed ordinance, largely modeled on regulations adopted last year by North Las Vegas, would require that all dogs and cats older than 4 months be spayed or neutered, except under special circumstances.
The ordinance would also require that dogs and cats have microchips implanted before being adopted or recovered from an impound facility. The tiny devices include owners’ addresses to aid recovery of lost pets.
The proposal would exempt residents with dog or cat fancier permits, breeder permits or professional animal handler permits.
Also, shelters — including Lied Animal Shelter, which serves Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Clark County — would in large part be exempted from the regulations. But Lied has a policy mandating that pets adopted from the shelter be vaccinated, microchipped and spayed or neutered.
Councilman Steve Ross, the measure’s sponsor, said he was asked several months ago by the city’s detention and enforcement chief, Karen Coyne, to look into crafting an ordinance to rein in “back yard breeders” who are contributing to the overpopulation of cats and dogs.
“It’s such a large underground business,” Ross said. The poor economy has only made it more tempting for some to try to breed pets illegally to make quick money, he said.
A few weeks ago, Ross said, he gathered people on all sides of the issue — including breeders, shelter officials and other spay-and-neuter proponents, veterinarians and others — to gauge support, which he said was near universal.
“I’ve been pushing for this kind of ordinance for a long time,” said Karen Layne, president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society.
But there is opposition to the proposal, which will be voted on in a later council meeting.
When Las Vegas officials sent a version of the ordinance to the city’s 126 licensed pet shops, owners expressed concern about a provision that would require them to provide the city with a list of the names and addresses of dog and cat purchasers.
The list would allow city officials to follow up with the buyers to make sure their new pets have been sterilized.
Not all breeders are pleased with the ordinance either.
Ken Sondej, a locally based American Kennel Club legislative liaison, said the AKC “strongly opposes mandatory spay and neuter.”
Sondej said the four-month provision is especially troubling. Most dogs shouldn’t be sterilized before at least 6 months old. For certain breeds, the procedure should be postponed until at least 2 years old. Sterilizing these animals before they’ve fully developed can cause immunological and other medical problems, Sondej said.
Instead of mandating spaying and neutering, local governments ought to do more to educate pet owners so they can make the best decision, Sondej said. “The decision should be left to the veterinarian and the owner, not a politician,” he said.
Many veterinarians say sterilization can have health benefits — and societal ones. Sterilizing male dogs typically reduces their aggressiveness. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, for example, non-neutered male dogs are responsible for about three out of every four dog bites.
The cost of spaying, neutering and microchipping, according to the ordinance, would still fall to pet owners. To make the procedures more affordable for poorer would-be pet owners, the ordinance would authorize creation of a fund to subsidize procedures for owners who qualify for public assistance.
Those who fail to spay or neuter their pets would face $225 fines for the first offense. A second-time violator would be fined $500. Every time thereafter, the offender would face a $1,000 fine.
Jason Smith, director of operations for The Animal Foundation, which oversees Lied’s operations, said although the shelter requires animals to be microchipped and spayed or neutered before adoption, it doesn’t have a similar requirement for pets being reclaimed by owners. If the city law were to require that, the shelter might have to hire a second veterinarian. It also means that Lied would have to charge owners for the service.
The city “can mandate that it’s done, but they can’t mandate that we do this for free,” Smith said.
Las Vegas’ proposed ordinance would be tougher than anything Clark County has on the books.
In late 2008 Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani sponsored a successful measure that, among other things, requires the sterilization of animals impounded more than once within an 18-month period.
According to county officials, adopting a mandatory spay-and-neuter policy is still a possibility down the road.
Layne, the Humane Society president, said such regulations are needed across the valley.
“Very few cities in the U.S. have the levels of animal overpopulation that we do here in Las Vegas,” she said. “It’s really amazing to me how many people refuse to spay and neuter their pets.”
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Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
"Last year more than 55,000 stray animals landed at local shelters. Almost 31,000 ended up being put to death."
That is a very sad statistic.
Awwww, what a cute little kitty. :)
Cats stink up your house though. :(
Only if you dont take care of them Peter. Same goes for dogs. When my friends and relatives come to visit from out of town they stink up my house much worse.
I agree that there should be mandatory spay and neuter, but 4 months old is too young. We have a dog adopted from a shelter back east and they neutered him at about that age. We've been dealing with allergy treatments since. I'd wait til the boys mature a bit more, maybe 8 months old, or breed specific. Not sure how it works for the females and spaying.
I hope the mandatory spay/neuter goes county-wide.
I would say that the bigger problem is with cats (Yup, I'll here from the owners on this one and I'm a neutral owner - having 1 of each), but in looking around, we see alot more cats roaming than dogs..one person on our street takes in roaming cats (she has about 8) which is against the CC&R's AND she lets them roam and WON'T Take them to the shelter...3 of them are now carrying a litter.
The age of animals is a bit young but I say do it for a couple years to control the population and then reverse the ruling.
I think its priceless to require animals to be microchipped but the animal shelter would actually have to look for one if my pet was ever lost and ended up at the shelter.
Dogs should be put on this as well. I don't know how many times I go to the dog parks and many dogs are not fixed or even have their shots and are humping everything in site. Owners just say, oh well. dumb.
Spay and neutering is not done for health reasons but for political reasons for the majority of our pets. Complications - many lifetime health factors occur in 20-25% of spayed and neutered pets - many of which will go unreported. And you, the pet owner, pay for the lifetime of medical cost.
Behavior problems - it's a myth that spaying and neutering improves the behavior of animals - it's not always true. In fact, in many cases, it makes pets worse. A small example of some of the negative behaviors exhibited due to spaying and neutering include shyness, increased aggression, and timidness.
Negative Health Effects of Spay/Neuter on Dogs
On balance, using Vetinary literature, it appears that no compelling case can be made for neutering male dogs, (especially immature male dogs) in order to prevent future health problems. The number of health problems associated with neutering exceeds the alleged health benefits.
If done before maturity, increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer) by a factor of 3.8. Increases the risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 1.6; this is a common cancer and major cause of death in some breeds. Triples the risk of hypothyroidism. Increases the risk of geriatric cognitive impairment. Triples the risk of obesity, and with it many of the associated health problems. Quadruples the small risk (<0.6%) of prostate cancer. Doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract cancers. Increases the risk of orthopedic disorders. Increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations. Negative behavior problems.
Negative Health Effects of spaying female dogs
If done before maturity, increases the risk of osteosarcoma by a factor of 3.1; this is a common cancer in larger breeds with a poor prognosis. Increases the risk of splenic hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 2.2 and cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor of more than 5; this is a common cancer and major cause of death in some breeds. Triples the risk of hypothyroidism. Increases the risk of obesity by a factor of 1.6 - 2, and with it the many associated health problems. Causes urinary spay incontinence in 4-20% of female dogs. Increases the risk of persistent or recurring urinary tract infections by a factor of 3-4. Increases the risk of recessed vulva, vaginal dermatitis, and vaginitis, especially for female dogs spayed before puberty. Doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract tumors. Increases the risk of orthopedic disorders. Increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations. Negative behavior problems - increases aggression, timidness, shyness depending on the animal
Any surgical or health decision should be made by pet owners after being told the complete truth regarding any and all health risks. It is not the right of Government to get involved in the health decisions that affect our pets! Tell your commissioners to STOP mandatory spaying and neutering. 1% of all pets neutered or spayed will die from the surgery.
Dr. Rosset, I'm all for choice and took my time on deciding whether to spay my animals - a long time. The problem is ignorant pet owners. Would you feel better if the ordinance would allow animals to reach maturity before mandating spaying or neutering? Some of these people shouldn't have kids either.
What a useless piece of legislation, not only does it fly in the face of personal liberty but it would just create a a boom in neighboring states only hours away for un sterilized pets. This is nothing more than an attempt by licensed breeders to stiffle non pure-breed breeding of animal pets.
Stiffle away!
To make anything mandatory is a violation of property rights (which seems not to matter to anyone anymore). My dog is 5 years old. I've NEVER had a problem and now because of others stupidity I have to risk his life and health by putting him under the knife for no good reason. AND pay for something I don't want or need. Viva Las Vegas.
I think its priceless to require animals to be microchipped but the animal shelter would actually have to look for one if my pet was ever lost and ended up at the shelter.
Tell me about it! When my one cat was lost, animal control found her and brought her to Lied. Found her the next day on the website(checked that everyday along with 3x a week visits to the shelter). Couldn't get to the shelter quick enough. I printed out the page from the website and I demanded to see her but I could only remember a few of the identifying numbers and letters of her chip. They then told me she had NO chip and I told them CHECK AGAIN so they begrudgily did so and there it was!
Also - and this is a good idea which I'm sure every pet owners has done - put their pictures on your cell phone! That was the only ID I had of her so I could prove she was my cat.
Ah..one more thing. One of the reasons for the high number of animals that end up in shelters? There's a law in Las Vegas that if your cat or dog has a litter you cannot sell them. You must be licensed breeder or seller. Stupid laws causing problems that we solve with more stupid laws? Who would thunk it.
Maybe we could spay and neuter the irresponsible pet "owners" who allow their dogs and cats to wander and breed indiscriminately. Then Darwinian selection would reduce the gene pool of stupid people, like the couple who walked into Dog Fancier's Dog Park last night at 6 pm and dumped two unwanted puppies in the parking lot. Dog lovers captured the pups but not the people, alas.
Having to euthanize 31,000 pets in a year in unconscionable. Another pock on the populace. We have many thousands of irresponsible pet "owners" here. It goes to the stupid level of Las Vegas.
And do you think we can get some of these DOG OWNERS to get their pets under control and SHUT THE HECK UP? Every other moron has a huge dog (or 2) that they leave out in the yard to YAP all day (&night) long. GET A CLUE, PEOPLE!
And yes, WAY to many CATS roaming the streets, many of them feral.
Based on my impression of some of the people that I have met while living here, I think that there is a very strong argument at not stopping at cats and dogs!
It won't work. The puppy/kitten mills would still go on, irresponsible pet owners would still be irresponsible, and the animal shelters will still end up with unwanted pets. Only real change will be more taxpayer dollars getting spent on useless feel good projects. Maybe I'm just getting old, or it's my rural upbringing, but unwanted animals are at best a nuisance and at worst a health threat -- and that's what we should have Animal Control for. If they're unclaimed after five days in "the pound", then put them to sleep. Period. We don't need more taxes/fees, regulations or police. and in a world with starving & abused children, the resources we spend on pets in this country is obscene.
"Last year more than 55,000 stray animals landed at local shelters. Almost 31,000 ended up being put to death."
How many of those stray animals were feral cats?
National statistics show that more than half of the animals in shelters that are euthanized are feral cats - not people's "abandoned" pets.
Let's neuter the politicians instead
that's such a cute cat in that photo. i just don't understand how people can be cruel and mean to animals.
Sterilize all welfare receiptants.
Dr. Rosset are you a veterinarian?
As you stated there are risks with any medical procedure, but the risks invovled with spaying and neutering your pets are fully outweighted by the benefits, which you fail to mention.
The Veterinary Medical Association says:
"In addition to the benefits of not having heat periods and unwanted offspring, the animal's tendency to roam is decreased. Most pets become less aggressive toward people and other animals.
The neutered male cat has a decreased urine odor, less of a tendency to fight and roam, and it is far less inclined to mark its territory by spraying urine.
The neutered male dog is also less likely to roam, mark territory, and display aggression toward other dogs. Neutered dogs have fewer tumors around the anus and decreased urine odor.
The spayed female cat and dog do not have reproductive tract disease problems, have less urinary tract infections, and significantly fewer cases of mammary cancer."
I think if people worked in a animal shelter for just one day and witnessed the sadness and death associated with not spaying and neutering we wouldn't have as much trouble convincing them to do the right thing. Let's work together to improve the pet population problem.
As we can tell by some of the comments here, the main problem with this issue is that many pet owners are amazingly selfish and ignorant.
The fact that thousands upon thousands of people use their pets as personal ATMs is quite frankly, disgusting. First order of business is to make it illegal to advertise the sale of any animal by unlicensed breeders on sites like Craigslist. Disgusting and immoral.
There are obviously a lot of ignorant, selfish pet owners like Vegaswolf who really need a little perspective. Anyone busted for illegally breeding animals should be forced to work in a shelter as community service, so they can see the result of their destructive behavior firsthand.
I volunteer at the Animal foundation and the SPCA. It is quite frankly the toughest thing I have ever done in my life. I have driven away in tears many times. These poor animals are victims of idiots essentially trying to make a buck. Time to get the laws passed and in place to put these animals out of the animal business. Want to breed animals? Get a license and do it legally.
There are no real benefits to mandatory spay and neuter as it removes money from the taxpayer who is responsible and puts at risk of death 1% of the pet population just from the surgery alone. Medical decisions should be left in the hands of the doctor and patient relationship and should not be part of a political government mandate. There is only one study that shows any health benefit from such surgery and that is ovarian cancer in female dogs. As for the red herrings you mention they will occur whether the animal is neutered or not. We would not tolerate this type of law for humans and it should not be used on animals. Some surgery is beneficial but these routine surgeries especially before maturation goes against the concept of health benefits. The items you mentioned such as heats and roaming are for the convenience of the owner and not the animal. A good fence is all one needs to prevent such problems you do not have to rip out organs that tell the body how to grow and move into old age. As for mandating this at four months demonstrates the ignorance that abounds in this community regarding how an animal grows and functions. If you don't want these so called problems then get a stuffed animal don't try to make one out of a living creature. As for feral cats they should be protected since they are the main predator of rats and mice and are the wall of protection between the plague known as the black death and humans. If you have feral cats you have rats and mice you don't see because they eat them. We should not be trapping wild animals and killing them because you disturb the ecosystem. The plague is well known to reside in southwestern states. Denver park squirrels became infested and died from this disease because Denver killed off all of its feral cat colonies. You are just a few feet away from having rats and mice take over and any old time farmer knows that the best way to keep them down is farm cat not a pet. These are not pets they are wild animals that hunt rats and mice at night. We already have studies that show when cats are removed from islands then the rats and mice take over and destroy all the birds, eggs and vegetation. Australia learned in the Macquires and it cost them 24 million to try and eradicate the rats, mice and rabbits. They finally put back the feral cats under control with limits, they were never able to eliminate the rats or rabbits.
I think that it's a good idea but agree that four months is way too young. Backyard breeders are a plague, they breed bad animals and contribute greatly to overpopulation. Bad owners are also a huge problem, people get a pet and when they realize the work and cost involved throw it away. We have to do better than this, millions of animals being killed every year, it's immoral.
Long-time pet owner. 2 dogs, 3 cats currently.
I have all of my pets neutered, except one. The only reason we haven't neutered the larger dog is because we lost jobs and it's not a priority.
That said, I think its a great idea to have your pets spayed and neutered. My husband rescued a 6 month old kitten from a motel he picks up from (he's a cabby) and had the kitten neutered the following day with Heaven Can Wait. Biggest reason? The little brat spent 5 minutes in the house before he started spraying everywhere. After the neuter, hasn't sprayed once.
Our older dog got neutered, not because of the law or the statistics, but because he wouldn't stop humping the cats. Since the neuter, he doesn't seem to even care that the cats exist.
I had a cat a few years ago that was a slippery little thing. She would wait until I opened the door and bolt. About a week later, she would come back pregnant. She did this twice before I gave up and aborted a litter of kittens (broke my heart) that were probably going to end up in the shelter.
No matter what, you can't control your animals 100%. Dogs break out of the back yard. Cats slip out of the house. Just like I would say to people having sex... Are you prepared to care for the whoops when it happens?
Either spay or neuter your animals, or be prepared to take care of the babies. IMHO
Hey, Let's just ask LA and an other communities who have instituted MSN how it's working for them. It has not worked in reducing euthanasia numbers ANYWHERE it has been instituted. Numbers of animals turned in has gone up over 20% since this has been passed in LA and in other communities, the stats are the same.
Also, early spay and neuter is not healthier in the long term for our animals, and the myth that it curbs aggression has pretty much been debunked in more recent scientific studies. I know that my 10 year old spayed female marks far more than my 6 year old intact male ever does. And when my male was going through a fear period at about 1 1/2 years old, I was told by 2 different canine behaviorists that if I neutered him during the time we were going through the behavior modification training, that he would likely get worse. I did not neuter him and he is a well adjusted and mellow, loving dog who has no propensity to roam or be aggressive to anyone. My experience over 15 years of living with multiple dogs both fixed and intact, is that spayed bitches are the worst for aggression.
There is ample evidence that there are increased risks of certain very fatal cancers with early spay/neuter and increased instances of muscularskelatal issues, as well as urinary incontinence issues in both males and females later in life. This article lists references http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.h... to support her opinions. So saying that there are health benefits of spay/neuter without also stating what the increases are for health problems is disingenuous and deceitful and does not give people all the information they need to make an informed decision, which is why this issue should not be mandated by the government, but left up to people in conjunction with their vets.
MSN is not the answer to the problem and the idiot AR's pushing this agenda know it. It will exacerbate things and do nothing but drive shelter numbers higher. It has been proven over and over, yet they keep getting legislators to buy into it as the "only" solution. BS!
I hope that all here realize how easy it is to manipulate statistics to paint a dismal (or cheery) picture. Animal rights groups are experts at this, citing numbers of animals being euthanized at shelters. However, one needs to look more closely to see the demographics of those animals. How many are owner turn ins, surrendered because of economic problems? How many of these are feral cats? And who complies these numbers?
Mandatory spay/neuter is not the answer. In case after case, cities that have passed MSN laws have found themselves mired even deeper in costs of enforcing such laws while having no effect on the number of animals being euthanized.
The first mandatory spay/neuter law was passed in San Mateo County, CA. in 1991 through a strong push by the Peninsula Humane Society. The law had the exact opposite effect that the PHS intended. The number of dogs euthanized in the areas governed by the ordinance increased 126% and the numbers of cats euthanized increased by 86%. Interestingly, the euthanasia rates in those parts of the county not governed by the ordinance decreased. In addition, the sale of dog licenses declined by 35%.
Additional ordinances were passed in King County, Washington and Pinellas County, Florida in 1992. Both resulted in significantly higher animal control costs (56.8% and 75% respectively)
that far outweighed any increase in revenues from increased license fees for intact dogs/cats.
In King County, euthanasia rates fell more slowly after passage of the law than prior to. In Pinellas County, the shelter intake and euthanasia rates actually increased. The same holds true for other localities that instituted MSN, including LA County's attempt in 2000, which was a dismal failure. So, why would anyone promote what has been proven to be an ineffectual knee jerk reaction to a complex problem?
Valid arguments.
I agree that a mandatory spay and neuter law will probably not fix things. The responsible owners that would follow the law would never allow an animal to have an unplanned litter.
What we are really dealing with is the feral cat population and the owner surrenders. Some of the surrenders are unwanted litters by irresponsible owners. To combat this, we need to have a sliding scale to alter pets for financially strapped families. There are some programs in place. I use them myself. Cats are about $50 and dogs about $100 through Humane Society and Heaven Can Wait. The thing is, not many people know this and those that do cannot always afford it.
Also, I think pet owners that surrender animals based on "I want such-and-such apartment" and "My new boyfriend doesn't like them" are crap and should be black-listed from ever owning an animal ever again.
We have a throw away attitude when it comes to family pets and that right there is the heart of the issue.
If the SPCA or the Humane Society could have the staff to moniter the animal sales in this county, we could cut back on the backyard breeders and "puppy mills" and get a handle on the overpopulation.
As a professional dog trainer of 30 plus years, I can tell you that education really works. When we first started teaching dog training classes, people would arrive with mostly intact dogs, often unsocialized and certainly unruly. Most did not know about crates and there was no such thing as responsible dog ownership.
Today, somewhere between 98 and 100% of participants in our dog obedience school arrive with dogs that are already spayed or neutered. Compliance is so high that I have changed my "spay/neuter" talk to a talk about the animal rights organizations who's true agenda is to abolish pet ownership completely.
Responsible dog breeders are not the problem and, very often, are part of the solution as most I know are involved in rescue work as well. Good dog breeders belong to parent clubs and sign a code of ethics with their membership each year that states that they will not sell through pet shops and third party brokers and that they will sell dogs on written contracts and take back any unwanted dogs that they have bred. The dogs bred by responsible breeders are NOT in rescue!!!! We screen our homes and stay in touch providing support and education and help in the event of an emergency. In 28 years as a hobby breeder, I have had 4 dogs returned to me. Two were people who had made an apparent mistake, realized they were poorly suited to raising a puppy and returned the two puppies to me. The other two were older dogs and the families were in crisis and asked for my help. The rest lived out their lives with their original families, happy and loved until the end. All of those dogs were either spayed or neutered (95%) or sold on co-ownerships and closely guided and monitored. Many of those dogs sold on potential breeding contracts were never bred. When we have a standard we expect from owners, we weed out the bad homes and get the ones that are loving, committed owners who have researched the breed of their interest and have spent some time doing this research. Impulse purchases are eliminated.
Our pet overpopulation is horrible and still needs work. However, there are areas of the country that screen so well that they have virtually eliminated unwanted dogs. Those shelters are importing dogs from other parts of the country to place in their areas.
We need to educate our shelter workers in evaluating dogs for placement so that each dog is a successful placement and that dangerous and unstable dogs are euthanized. More people will adopt from shelters and rescue organizations when they can depend on the information they are getting about a given dog and it's suitability for their family. We evaluate dogs in our training kennel and see a lot of poor placements, for which the new owner is frequently blamed.
I do not think laws requiring spay/neuter do any good for anyone. We cannot dictate morality or responsibility. However, information is power.
We do not need laws that take away the right to make our own decisions on surgery for our pets. But we do need to solve the problems of homeless animals.
Dr. Rosset commented with some excellent points, that must be addressed adequately if we are to arrive at the best solutions. There are many good reasons why someone may not want to have their cat or dog altered (though Dr. Rosset is mostly focusing on the canine health and behavior issues).
People who are unhappy with the plights of homeless animals and animals facing euthanization, will be happy to know that there are much better solutions available. The "No More Homeless Pets conference" is being held in Las Vegas this very weekend (10/23 thru 10/25), and Nathan Winograd is a featured speaker there. Learn what he has been doing to successfully stop the killing and increase successful adoptions. His book, "Redemption", and his blog and website are sources of inspiration, and real eye openers on the problems animal shelters deal with, and the huge improvements that can be made, to the benefit of the animals and the people who care about them.
It is also important to note and point out to the legislators that the national ASPCA DOES NOT support mandatory spay/neuter. Here is their policy statement on it:
http://www.aspca.org/about-us/policy-pos...
Additionally, regardless if they found a vet or two that supports it, the American Vet. Med. Assoc. does not support MSN either.
Aggressive public education and access to low cost spay neuter clinics are the better way to address the issue.
Education and voluntary spay / neutering work. MSN simply advances the USHS & PETA's pet annihilation agenda and it doesn't work.
Cities and counties that have bought into this propaganda and have enacted MSN legislation have seen increased costs, increased animal surrenders and higher euthanasia rates. Is this really what LV wants?
For the so-called "dr" who provided all of this so called "research," I suggest that you check out the following url http://foodpastor.com/unleashyourself.bi.... You will notice that Dr. Lisa Howe from Texas A & M University has credentials and some actual research documents to back up what she has to say.
Dr. Lisa Howe ought to research that Dr. Zink is a woman, not a man. Might give the rest of her research a bit more credence.