I recently attended an HSUS “Lobbying 101” event in Knoxville where the topic of mandatory spaying and neutering was brought up repeatedly. At this meeting, conducted by the HSUS state director, Leighann McCollum, it was assumed without question that MSN was a great idea – a panacea to cure virtually all animal problems in our society. While she did not actually tell the 30 or so people present that they should try to work for MSN in Knoxville, this message seemed to be understood by everyone present judging by their murmurs of approval for the subject.
Here in northeast Tennessee, Washington County/Johnson City Animal Control Center Director Debbie Dobbs has already gone before the city commission to get permission to draft an ordinance which would require mandatory spaying and neutering in the city. Her draft proposal, based on the Buncombe County NC ordinance, will require all dogs and cats six months or older to be spayed or neutered unless the owner purchases an unaltered animal permit. Limited exemptions are noted for service and police dogs, and animals in poor health. The final proposal has not been submitted to Commissioners at this time.
What’s particularly worrisome is the fact that, despite the current animal control ordinance in effect in Johnson City which requires registration of cats and dogs (Johnson City municipal code 10-102 1-12) and kennel licenses (Johnson City municipal code 10-102.9), there is no licensing or registration of pets. The City Recorder confirmed there is no licensing or registration in the city. While this in itself is not a bad thing since many places don’t have pet licensing, the fact that Director Dobbs is proposing more unenforceable laws while current laws are not being enforced seems ridiculous.
Dobbs provided some figures to the city commissioners which show that in 2008 the shelter was able to adopt out 41 percent of the animals that were picked up or owner-surrendered (3329 animals out of 8152). Eight percent were reclaimed (685 animals). Fifty-one percent of animals entering the shelter were euthanized (4136).
The shelter takes in animals for both the city and the county. They received more calls for animal pick-up from county residents than from city residents (1450 to 1029) but far more city people turned animals in than county people (3394 to 2378). The town of Jonesborough accounted for 131 animals in the shelter.
If correct, the intake figure for 2008 is very high for a population the size of Washington County/Johnson City. It would also be helpful to have a further breakdown of the animal shelter’s figures for animals taken in and picked up. In most places the number of stray or feral cats is at least equal to the number of owned cats. While nationally, owned cats are spayed and neutered at a rate of more than 85 percent, less than 5 percent of feral cats are spayed or neutered. This makes them disproportionately responsible for most of the litters of kittens that are picked up or taken to animal shelters. Feral cats and kittens usually comprise a high percentage of the animals which are euthanized in shelters. We would like to find out if this is the case in Johnson City. It does no good to call for mandatory spaying and neutering if the problem is unowned stray cats. MSN only punishes responsible owners who don’t let their animals roam or breed indiscriminately.
Two e-mails have been sent to the Washington County/Johnson City Animal Control Center asking for more details about the animals that they pick up and take in. There has been no reply although they did reply to an earlier e-mail asking for a copy of the current animal control ordinance.
It is important to know more about the dogs that are turned in to the shelter. Owner retention is a serious problem. Many people turn young, adolescent dogs in to shelters because they don’t know what to do when a young dog starts showing some behavior problems — house training problems, too much barking, jumping on people, for example. There are some good ways to get trainers in the community involved to help owners teach their dogs to behave better. Offering some training classes at the shelter could help owners keep their dogs.
There are many ways to help market some of the adoptable cats and dogs to make them more appealing to the public. Good marketing can raise adoption numbers and lower the number of animals that are euthanized.
Mandatory spaying and neutering is not the solution that Director Dobbs thinks it is. It will not work in Johnson City just as it hasn’t worked anywhere else it’s been tried. Even in Asheville, which she has put forth as a success story, the figures prove her wrong. Asheville has not succeeded with MSN. In most places where MSN has been tried it not only hasn’t worked but it has resulted in increased costs to the city/county government and MORE animals euthanized.
MSN is not the solution for Johnson City or Washington County.
Carlotta Cooper - TN Pet Law
Thursday, November 12, 2009
MSN & Breeding Restrictions a Bad Idea
Despite the fact Mandatory Spay Neuter (MSN) is a failed concept, advocates in numerous states continue to stir public opinion and press for ordinance changes.
Why is MSN a bad idea? To begin with MSN targets the wrong people – people who are already responsible and wish to breed dogs/cats – even if so-called exemptions are included in the legislation. MSN is a blanket law built on the false premise that reducing the source of animals equals reducing shelter intake.
There are no stories of success anywhere that MSN has been enacted. In fact, many municipalities have seen their intake and euthanasia rates increase following passage of such laws. In the early ‘90’s the punitive laws passed in Fort Wayne, Indiana; San Mateo, California; and King County, Washington were hailed as national models; however, they remain a dismal failure to this day.
Nathan Winograd, author of Redemption, notes in one of his many essays that if coercive legislation was effective then Long Beach CA, where MSN was carried to the extreme of a total breeding ban for 30 years, would have empty shelters or at least be No Kill. Yet Long Beach still handles thousands of animals thru animal control services every year.
Most professionals acknowledge benefits to spay/neuter of dogs such as decreased roaming, decreased risk of mammary, testicular and ovarian cancer, and population control in non-breeding animals. However, it is imperative to note the disadvantages of spaying or neutering may include diabetes, osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, prostatic adenocarcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma, urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, autoimmune thyroiditis, hypothyroidism and hip dysplasia.
MSN ordinances do not consider the physiological differences between dogs and cats. The cats’ reproductive physiology requires that they either be bred or spayed to remain healthy. An ill-conceived mandatory spay/neuter regulation could force a small cat hobbyist out of existence causing irreplaceable loss of genetic diversity and conceivably the extinction of entire breeds.
Mandatory spay/neuter ordinances are intended to deter and penalize pet owners. No matter how severe the punishment, free-roaming cats with no owners will continue to reproduce on the streets adding to the feral cat population. MSN laws have no impact on the unchecked reproduction of unowned/free-roaming/feral cats - the greatest reason for shelter euthanasia.
Spay/neuter must remain a decision between the veterinarian and owner and not a government mandate.
MSN and breeder licensing laws also fail to address the problem of pet retention. It is undisputable that the number one reason for owner surrender is related to pet behavior or health problems, or the owner’s lack of time, knowledge or ability to care for the pet.
The emphasis must be placed on pet retention if animal control and shelter intake is to be lowered. Pets that have been relinquished had an owner who chose not to keep them.
Passing breeding restrictions costs the public money in the form of administrative fees, burdens animal control to enforce an unpopular law, and takes focus away from needed duties dealing with strays, abandoned animals, cruelty cases, public education, and shelter adoptions.
Breeding restriction laws would limit the options of dog buyers. Options are important to prospective dog owners because it is important for them to choose dogs that will fit in well with their lifestyles in terms of size, grooming requirements, and exercise needs. The fewer choices available to potential owners, the greater the chance that the new dogs will not fit in well with their lifestyles and expectations.
Restricting breeders of purebred dogs will not make mixed breeds from the shelter more appealing to everyone no matter how politically correct shelter adoptions are marketed to be. An elderly woman living in an apartment looking for a small lap dog, is not going to adopt an 80 pound collie/shepherd mix from the shelter if local breeders are shut down by mandatory spay/neuter laws or excessive breeder permitting.
Preserving your right to own, breed and enjoy animals is YOUR responsibility.
NCRAOA November Newsletter
Why is MSN a bad idea? To begin with MSN targets the wrong people – people who are already responsible and wish to breed dogs/cats – even if so-called exemptions are included in the legislation. MSN is a blanket law built on the false premise that reducing the source of animals equals reducing shelter intake.
There are no stories of success anywhere that MSN has been enacted. In fact, many municipalities have seen their intake and euthanasia rates increase following passage of such laws. In the early ‘90’s the punitive laws passed in Fort Wayne, Indiana; San Mateo, California; and King County, Washington were hailed as national models; however, they remain a dismal failure to this day.
Nathan Winograd, author of Redemption, notes in one of his many essays that if coercive legislation was effective then Long Beach CA, where MSN was carried to the extreme of a total breeding ban for 30 years, would have empty shelters or at least be No Kill. Yet Long Beach still handles thousands of animals thru animal control services every year.
Most professionals acknowledge benefits to spay/neuter of dogs such as decreased roaming, decreased risk of mammary, testicular and ovarian cancer, and population control in non-breeding animals. However, it is imperative to note the disadvantages of spaying or neutering may include diabetes, osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, prostatic adenocarcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma, urinary tract infections, urinary incontinence, autoimmune thyroiditis, hypothyroidism and hip dysplasia.
MSN ordinances do not consider the physiological differences between dogs and cats. The cats’ reproductive physiology requires that they either be bred or spayed to remain healthy. An ill-conceived mandatory spay/neuter regulation could force a small cat hobbyist out of existence causing irreplaceable loss of genetic diversity and conceivably the extinction of entire breeds.
Mandatory spay/neuter ordinances are intended to deter and penalize pet owners. No matter how severe the punishment, free-roaming cats with no owners will continue to reproduce on the streets adding to the feral cat population. MSN laws have no impact on the unchecked reproduction of unowned/free-roaming/feral cats - the greatest reason for shelter euthanasia.
Spay/neuter must remain a decision between the veterinarian and owner and not a government mandate.
MSN and breeder licensing laws also fail to address the problem of pet retention. It is undisputable that the number one reason for owner surrender is related to pet behavior or health problems, or the owner’s lack of time, knowledge or ability to care for the pet.
The emphasis must be placed on pet retention if animal control and shelter intake is to be lowered. Pets that have been relinquished had an owner who chose not to keep them.
Passing breeding restrictions costs the public money in the form of administrative fees, burdens animal control to enforce an unpopular law, and takes focus away from needed duties dealing with strays, abandoned animals, cruelty cases, public education, and shelter adoptions.
Breeding restriction laws would limit the options of dog buyers. Options are important to prospective dog owners because it is important for them to choose dogs that will fit in well with their lifestyles in terms of size, grooming requirements, and exercise needs. The fewer choices available to potential owners, the greater the chance that the new dogs will not fit in well with their lifestyles and expectations.
Restricting breeders of purebred dogs will not make mixed breeds from the shelter more appealing to everyone no matter how politically correct shelter adoptions are marketed to be. An elderly woman living in an apartment looking for a small lap dog, is not going to adopt an 80 pound collie/shepherd mix from the shelter if local breeders are shut down by mandatory spay/neuter laws or excessive breeder permitting.
Preserving your right to own, breed and enjoy animals is YOUR responsibility.
NCRAOA November Newsletter
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Johnson City to consider mandatory spay/neuter ordinance
The Johnson City Commission approved a motion at their last meeting allowing Washington County/Johnson City Animal Shelter Director Debbie Dobbs to pursue seeking legal advice on a proposed mandatory spay/neuter ordinance and work in conjunction with Washington County on the ordinance.
The motion passed with four commissioners voting in favor. Prior to the vote, Commissioner Phil Carriger voiced concerns that the ordinance would not be effective without bringing the county onboard.
Commissioner Steve Darden abstained from voting. Johnson City Manager Pete Peterson said County Attorney John Rambo would be asked to assist in reviewing the proposed ordinance.
Dobbs is basing her proposal on the failed mandatory spay-neuter ordinance enacted in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
The motion passed with four commissioners voting in favor. Prior to the vote, Commissioner Phil Carriger voiced concerns that the ordinance would not be effective without bringing the county onboard.
Commissioner Steve Darden abstained from voting. Johnson City Manager Pete Peterson said County Attorney John Rambo would be asked to assist in reviewing the proposed ordinance.
Dobbs is basing her proposal on the failed mandatory spay-neuter ordinance enacted in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
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