Mandatory Spay/Neuter Laws - A Failure Everywhere
The Los Angeles City Council is considering an ordinance today that would make spaying and neutering pets mandatory — for pets over the age of FOUR MONTHS. Let me tell you why that's not a good idea.
People often claim that mandatory spay/neuter laws will somehow magically reduce shelter populations and euthanasia rates. Sadly, everywhere it has been tried, exactly the reverse has happened. The facts and figures speak for themselves.
Please keep these statistics in mind the next time someone proposes mandatory spaying and neutering for your town.
Mandatory Spay/Neuter Laws - A Failure Everywhere
City of Los Angeles
- 2000 “spay or pay” ordinance
- Decline in licensing compliance since passage of this ordinance
- Animal control budget after passage of the law rose 269%, from
$6.7 million to $18 million.
- City hired additional animal control officers and bought new
trucks and equipment just to enforce the new law
Santa Cruz County, CA
- 1995 mandatory spay/neuter ordinance
- change in shelter intakes and euthanasia rates are no better than
the state average
- animal control costs doubled after passage
- animal control costs "spiraling" out of control, according to a
Santa Cruz Sentinel investigation
- Capitola canceled animal services contract with county due to
rising costs
- Watsonville threatening to pull out due to rising costs
- licensing compliance dropped significantly
San Mateo California
- 1991 mandatory spay/neuter ordinance
- dog deaths in the areas governed by the ordinance, increased 126%
and cats 86%, but decreased in parts of the county not governed by
the ordinance
- dog licenses declined by 35%.
Montgomery County, MD
- mandatory spay/neuter law was passed but later repealed as a failure
- 50% decline in licensing compliance while ordinance in effect
- Euthanasia rates declined more slowly than before the ordinance
passed
Fort Worth TX
- ended its mandatory spay/neuter program
- licensing compliance fell off after passage of the ordinance
- There was a reduction in rabies vaccinations which lead to an
increase in rabies in the city
Camden County, New Jersey
- mandatory spay/neuter ordinance in 1996
- PAWS NJ comments 5 years later, “An analysis of these statistics
shows the Humane Society of Southern NJ which operates the Camden
County Animal Shelter, to be consistently one of the leading, if
not the leading killers of animals in the state of New Jersey.”
King County, Washington
- mandatory spay/neuter ordinance in 1992
- License compliance decreases since passage of the ordinance.
- Animal control expenses increased 56.8% and revenues only 43.2%.
- In 1990 animal controls were $1,662,776. By 1997 animal control
costs were $3,087,350.
- Euthanasia rates fell at a slower rate after passage of the
ordinance.
Aurora CO
- mandatory spay/neuter ordinance
- licensing compliance has dropped dramatically.
Pinellas County Florida
- breeder licensing since 1992
- animal control budget increased 75% with revenue increasing only
13%.
- shelter intake and euthanasia rates increased after the law took
effect
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 am
People get away with what that are allowed to get away with. Pet overpopulation is increasing everywhere regardless whether or not you have a mandatory spay/neuter law. The pet overpopulation problem would be much worse without any kind of law that limits cats and dogs breeding. Most counties already have low cost spay/neutering programs; even free on social assistance-unwanted, homeless animals keep on coming that costs each county-some way over a million, even 8 or 9 million dollars, a year, killing 20-30 thousand animals a year. Even more. Face the fact that most people are irresponsible when it comes to their pets and most people get kittens for as toys for their children-and I also know people who dump them on the streets or pound as soon as they mature-only to get another kitten. In fact, many people do this and don't give it a second thought to dump them. This is the reality of human beings. You all oppose mandatory spay/neutering-perhaps you are back yard breeders yourself, or patrons of the American Kennel Club (who makes money off of puppy mills). Your rejection of mandatory spay/neutering will only cause more suffering for animals. And THAT is on your heads-you are perpetuating animal cruelty. I know the "AKC Registered" peddlers are the ones who oppose mandatory spay/neutering for obvious reasons-but every time a person buys a dog from a breeder, you kill a shelter dog; you have upheld their "right" to sell their wares of cruelty, while tens of thousands of mix breed puppies, kittens, dogs and cats are exterminated every year in a single county, due to human irresponsiblity.
IF PEOPLE ARE NOT willing to take their animal to get fixed-what makes you think they are going to register their pet anyway? Most people who do not spay/neuter their animals do not take their pets to the vet under any circumstannces and do not get their vaccinations.