Bob i think the risk is the anesthetic, a castrate is pretty straight forward , as they dont go in to the body to perform the operaton, so less time under the anesthetic, with a spay or vasectomy its a bit more intrusive, but i think the big problem with vasectomys is them reversing, everyones mileage varies, never had a problem with the hob i used, but i have heard a lot of people say the vasectomised hob they have used on there jils has ended up with unwanted unplanned litters, its a bit of a lottery really, i think if you have a couple or more jills a vasectomised hob is worth his weight i