Is it permissible to neuter cats?

amother

Maroon

Sun, May 10 2015, 1:17 pm

My neighborhood has numerous cats that keep multiplying. If I buy a trap like this one

http://www.amazon.com/Havahart.....+trap

am I allowed to bring the cat to get neutered?

amother

Brunette

Sun, May 10 2015, 1:46 pm

AYLOR. Castrating a male animal is forbidden mideoraita. Neutering a female animal is forbidden under the rubric of tzaar baalei chayyim.

Delores

Sun, May 10 2015, 2:43 pm

I understood that it should not be done. Anyway you would have to bring dozens of cats to get neutered in order to solve your problem.

nywife

Sun, May 10 2015, 4:26 pm

Forget Halacha, it's your neighbors cat not yours.

Ruchel

Sun, May 10 2015, 4:27 pm

Selling them to the vet can be an option, in some shailos.

imasinger

Sun, May 10 2015, 6:39 pm

nywife wrote:

Forget Halacha, it's your neighbors cat not yours.

This. It's a shame, but aside from the halachic issues of spaying and neutering, there is a bigger halachic issue of taking something that is not yours without permission and changing it, even with the most noble of reasons.

zaq

Sun, May 10 2015, 7:03 pm

I don't think OP is talking about a neighbor's cats, but about strays overrunning the neighborhood. OP, if you trap them, bring them to the SPCA. Or call the Animal Control agency in your city.

FranticFrummie

Sun, May 10 2015, 8:19 pm

One year a neighbor trapped and removed all the feral cats from our area. For the next several years we were completely overrun with rats and field mice, and no amount of pest control could handle it.

Keep the cats around!

MagentaYenta

Sun, May 10 2015, 9:19 pm

Call a Vet or check to see if your local area has a Feral Cat Coalition. These folks trap ferals, give them shots, check their general health, neuter and return them.

I have four ferals that live creekside and they have all been neutered by the feral cat people. They are excellent mousers, one still insists on leaving random carnage at my doorstep. They don't come into my yard so I'm not concerned about them pooping in my garden and they are keeping the rodents away.

chani8

Mon, May 11 2015, 5:46 am

I "give" my pets to a non-jewish relative and then he requests that I take them to the vet for neutering/spaying.

If you are afraid of being over a d'oraisa, then you could just spay the females, and that will solve the problem.

It is more tzaar baali chayim to let them overpopulate and become more like rats, to the point of needing to exterminate them, imo.

LisaS

Mon, May 11 2015, 8:19 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

Same by us! We were much happier with the cats back. At least the cats usually don't enter homes, although we did have one very smart street cat that would open screens.