Pet neutering measures OK'd by Palm Beach County (FL)

Pet neutering measures OK'd by Palm Beach County By Mark Hollis | Sun-Sentinel.com
3:25 PM EST, January 15, 2008
WEST PALM BEACH - Palm Beach County commissioners on Tuesday tentatively approved a controversial ordinance to encourage more dogs and cats to be sterilized.

The decision came over protests from dog breeders and veterinarians who said the measure won't reduce the number of pets destroyed at the county's animal shelter and who said it interferes too much in their businesses.

Republican Bob Kanjian was the lone dissenter in the 6-1 vote, arguing that the measure is unconstitutional.
Before the measure can take effect, it must be voted again by commissioners at another public hearing, likely in February.

Under the ordinance, breeders would be mandated to obtain a breeder permit, which some could receive for free. They would be banned from breeding more than two litters of puppies and kittens each year, and would be required to give county officials the names, addresses and phone numbers of the people who buy the pets.

Breeders would have 90 days to register with the county. After a 90-day grace period, a breeder permit would cost $150, and $75 per animal for an unaltered license tag. If found in violation, breeders could lose their permits and face fines.

Breeders, veterinarians, animals-rights activists and others testified to commissioners at Tuesday's hearing.

Mark Dew, a Wellington veterinarian, argued against the plan, joining others in saying that it does too little to police inappropriate animal-care giving and is too punitive against breeders.

"The lion's share of this problem is not pets in the health-care system, it's the irresponsible people not in the health-care system," said Dew. Making those who are not responsible for the problem pay for the sins of those who are "is not going to get to the heart of this problem," he said.

Nearly 8,700 cats were euthanized at the county's animal shelter last year. The number of dogs killed at the shelter exceeded 4,100.

"The fact of the matter is that we are killing animals," said Commissioner Burt Aaronson, prior to voting in support of the pet-sterilization plan. "It's killing animals, and I don't want to have to see us killing our best friends."

Commissioner Jess Santamaria said the ordinance is "not a perfect solution, but it's a beginning." He and other commissioners supporting the measure cited the numbers of animals sheltered and killed at county animal control facilities.

"Doing nothing is not an option," said Santamaria. "We have to act. We have to do something."

Kanjian repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the ordinance, and argued that the new rules will be difficult to enforce and unlikely to solve the problem of unwanted and abandoned pets. He also said the measure treats sterilization for dogs and cats equally but said the county primarily has a cat overpopulation problem.

Challenging county statistics on the number of animals sheltered and destroyed at their facility off Belvedere Road west of West Palm Beach, Kanjian accused county leaders of "padding numbers to make it seem like (pet overpopulation) is a bigger problem than what it is."

Kay Lynette Roca, director of Safe Harbor, an animal care facility near Jupiter, blasted Kanjian for his assertions, and urged commissioners to finalize their approval of the ordinance.

"Pet overpopulation is not a myth," she said. "Spay and neuter is the root of all the problems. The issue here is that if you end the overpopulation problem, you've addressed all the other issues (of animal care and control). You've addressed the other issues like animals hit by cars, nuisance cases, cruelty cases."

Thomas Garretson, president of a humane society in Monroe County, which has imposed a mandatory pet sterilization law, praised county commissioners' steps Tuesday.

"You've now focused on the front of the problem (of pet overpopulation)," Garretson said. "If you eliminate the birth (of pets), you can drive down the numbers of animals sheltered and euthanized."

Before voting on the ordinance, commissioners unanimously approved spending $500,000 more toward animal-control needs, including a voucher program to help low-income residents pay for pet sterilizations and expanding a no-cost spay and neuter clinic in the county's western suburbs. The commissioners also approved a request to expand the number of days the county's Animal Care and Control department operates a mobile, free-spay clinic known as a Spay Shuttle.

The county elected leaders also backed a plan to hold three 24-hour spay and neuter events for cats. Earlier this month, a similar event, dubbed "Op Around the Clock" resulted in 415 cats sterilized.

Mark Hollis can be reached at mhollis@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5512.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-115neuter,0,1569695.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout