All animal shelters in Colorado are now required to spay/neuter as a condition of adoption.
By Rita Sharma, Best Friends Network, Volunteer News WriterOn March 26, Governor Ritter signed Bill HB08-1185, which requires spaying/neutering of all animals adopted through a Colorado shelter or rescue. Many certainly are already doing this, and the efforts of all animal rescue operations throughout the state aid in managing overpopulation.
With this approval, the bill requires shelters and rescues to spay/neuter all dogs and cats before being released to their adoptive owners. The bill itself does allow for an intact animal to be adopted out, as long as the new owners leave a deposit and sign a commitment to have the animal appropriately spayed/neutered within 90 days. They’ll need to bring written proof back to the shelter for deposit release; failure to do so within 90 days will result in forfeit of that deposit and the right of the shelter to reclaim the animal. The terms of the bill would begin January 1, 2009, which would give our shelters and rescues time to prepare.
Colorado isn’t alone in looking at how to address the ever-growing issue of pet overpopulation. Illinois and Missouri are reviewing bills that would enforce spay/neuter upon adoption; Alabama signed a similar bill in 2006, as did Delaware.
Additional efforts will still be needed, of course, to help increase awareness of overpopulation from other causes including the ongoing buying of intact animals through pet shops and breeders, especially “backyard” breeders.
Full detail on the bill is available on the
Colorado General Assembly website.Photo Courtesy of Rena Munyon