It would be nice if everyone would spay and neuter their pets.
But the mandatory spay-neuter ordinance Las Vegas city officials are now considering could end up doing more harm than good, especially when it comes to feral – or community – cats, who, under this ordinance, would only have to be held in shelters for 48 hours before being killed.
The ordinance could also result in more pets being relinquished to already crowded shelters because their people can’t afford to spay or neuter them.
“This ordinance is not written correctly and it targets feral cats and the poor,” says Shelly Kotter, campaign specialist for Focus on Felines, one of four Best Friends campaigns aimed at reaching the goal of No More Homeless Pets.
The Las Vegas City Council will gather Wednesday, Nov. 18, to consider Bill No. 2009-44, which would require dogs and cats over the age of four months be spayed or neutered, except under special circumstances.
The ordinance, if approved, would make it unlawful for any person to “harbor” within the city any dog or cat over the age of four months that has not been spayed or neutered. According to the proposed ordinance, the term “harbor” means to have legal ownership of, or to provide, on a regular basis, care, shelter, protection, refuge, nourishment or medical treatment.
Best Friends does not support mandatory spay-neuter legislation as a method of pet population control, says Judah Battista, associate director for Best Friends Community Programs and Services.
“We will not support legislation that penalizes the poor and will lead to people having to make life and death decisions for their pets based on the affordability and availability, or lack thereof, spay-neuter services,” Battista says.
Gregory Castle, a Best Friends co-founder and the organization’s interim chief executive officer, agrees. “If your mandate insists people get their animals fixed, but doesn’t make any provision to help them do it, it doesn’t make any sense,” Castle says.
Battista says Best Friends would consider supporting a spay-neuter ordinance if three things are provided for and are included in the language of the ordinance. Those three things are accessibility, affordability and public promotion.
“We want to see that spay-neuter access is provided for those that can’t afford it and/or can’t get to it,” Battista says. “We also want to make sure that the public is made aware of free and low-cost access.”
Battista says a better alternative to a mandatory spay-neuter ordinance would be to take the resources that would be devoted to enforcement and the subsequent housing of unaltered pets and using it to fund low-cost spay-neuter programs.
Battista says Best Friends will not support “any ordinance that handles community cats as owned cats and would ultimately condemn them to death for being unaltered.”
What Best Friends does support is trap-neuter-return, which has proven to be the most humane and most fiscally responsible way to address community cats.
One program Best Friends helps support is Feral Freedom, a program of First Coast No More Homeless Pets in Jacksonville, Florida. Instead of taking community cats to shelters, Jacksonville Animal Care and Control and the Jacksonville Humane Society turn them over to Feral Freedom where they’re spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and returned to their colonies. Feral Freedom is eliminating the killing of free-roaming cats in the community, easing the burden on shelters, reducing the number of homeless cats, resolving neighborhood complaints and saving taxpayer dollars.
Another community that’s doing things right is the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Bill Bruce, director of the City of Calgary Animal and Bylaw Services, says the secret to a program’s success is making it easily accessible and affordable to pet owners. The agency recently opened a brand new spay-neuter facility that is completely funded by licensing fees. And the agency provides low-cost spaying and neutering services to low-income applicants.
Bruce says the agency does not support mandatory spay-neuter laws because they turn otherwise responsible pet owners into criminals based on their inability to afford the surgery.
“The goal behind the spay-neuter facility is to improve compliance by removing barriers to responsible pet owners, not by legislating them into hiding,” Bruce says.
How You Can Help
Please contact the Las Vegas City Council and ask them to oppose the mandatory spay/neuter ordinance. Instead, suggest city council members enact a citywide trap-neuter-return program that will humanely and effectively manage the cat population.
To find your council person or ward, please click here
• Mayor Oscar B. Goodman
• Councilman Steven D. Ross
• Councilman Stavros S. Anthony
• Councilman Ricki Y. Barlow
• Councilman Steve Wolfson
• Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian
• Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese
Additional Information
Read the proposal by clicking here.
Feel free to use this information when emailing your council members.
Read more about Focus on Felines and other Best Friends No More Homeless Pets campaigns.
Thank you for taking action for animals!
Best Friends Animal Society does not support this legislation.
Photos by Molly Wald, Best Friends photographer.