L.A. Helps Control The Pet Population...

Bob Barker, who is best known for his years as the host of "The Price is Right," always ended the show with his famous phrase: "Help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered."

Now, this line can end with, "because it's the law in Los Angeles." Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed this law on Tuesday. It will require residents to have their pet sterilized by the time the animal is four months old.

Of course, there will be exceptions. The most obvious of these exceptions are animals owned by breeders and that compete in shows. Also included will be police and guide dogs.

CNN.com lists the penalties of not complying in its story about the law. As a first warning, those who do not sterilize their pet will receive information about the law. If still no action is taken, the owner will be fined $100 and then $500 with up to 40 hours of community service added to the fines.

In my opinion, this is a great law to have in place. So many animals end up in pounds and are never adopted due to the competition in place by pet stores where puppies and kittens frolic in such a tempting way that few seem to resist. People let their pets reproduce so they can enjoy the adorable result, but even the cutest puppy grows up into a not-so-cute dog. The dog is replaced with a puppy and the cycle continues.

If that's not motivating enough to sterilize pets to keep them from being surrendered to pounds, watch this commercial from Pedigree. The look on Echo's face speaks volumes: