Have dogs that have been rescued from a pound had their anal glands removed as they would be "fixed" also?

Never... they would never go to that expense and it is only with ongoing problems that any dog would actually have them removed.

In all my years of owning dogs and working with rescue dogs I've never known any dog have that operation. It is only something done as a total last resort.

Only if this surgery was necessary! And it's not a nice surgery to put a dog through, so it's to be hoped this wouldn't be necessary. Castration = removing the testicles. Spaying = removing the internal reproductive organs.

Anal glands have nothing to do with the reproductive organs. They are scent glands, located internally at roughly 20 to 4 either side of the anus. Working properly, with the passing of a normal stool, they shouldn't ever need touching. Only if things go wrong do they occasionally become impacted/infected.

"Fixing" a dog is meant to mean either neutering (castration) or spaying (ovariohysteresctomy). Removing anal glands has nothing to do with either of those. Surgically removing small glands is time consuming and can have a fairly long recovery. It's only done when medically required.

Okay, dumb asses I know what spaying and neutering are! If I know that dogs have anal glands surely I know that. What I'm asking is if they remove them when they "fix" them at shelters. I swear Yahoo Answers brings out the stupidest know-it-alls.

No, anal glands are left on a dog, they're on either side of the rectum, inside the area. Only testicles are removed when they neuter a dog.

No. why would they?