DeLand to make spaying, neutering mandatory for dogs, cats

BEACON PHOTO/BARB SHEPHERD
Concerns about animals — Becky Wilson, director of Animal Services for Volusia County, speaks to the DeLand City Commission about spay-neuter laws, while DeLand Assistant City Manager Dale Arrington listens, at right.

By Barb Shepherd
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted May 11, 2009 - 1:57:53pm

DeLand is joining Volusia County in requiring pet owners to spay or neuter their dogs and cats.

City officials hope the requirement will reduce the number of animals that end up being killed at shelters.

Of the 14,582 animals taken to Halifax Humane Society in Daytona Beach in 2008, 9,866 were euthanized, at a cost of about $85 each to the cities where the animals originated.

DeLand’s new law must pass a second reading before it takes effect, but only Commissioner Charles Paiva opposed the ordinance on its first reading May 4. The vote was 4-to-1.

The new law would require pets to be sterilized by Sept. 30, but city officials said they will enforce it on a complaints-only basis.

Paiva said he voted against the law because he is hesitant for the city to exercise that level of control over people’s pets, and also because he doesn’t like the idea of putting a law on the books that the city doesn’t really intend to enforce.

To encourage the passage of spay-neuter laws, Volusia County has offered free use of the Pet Vet Cruiser through Sept. 30 to cities that adopt the ordinances.

Since the county passed its mandatory sterilization law in 2007, only two cities in Volusia County have followed suit. South Daytona and Holly Hill also require their residents to spay or neuter their pets.

County officials hope free use of the Pet Vet Cruiser will change that.

The Pet Vet Cruiser is a mobile veterinary clinic offering free or low-cost pet sterilization to people of low or moderate income. Currently, only residents of the unincorporated areas can use it.

The county wants to expand the Pet Vet Cruiser’s territory, and also encourage other cities to require sterilization.

At the May 4 City Commission meeting, Assistant City Manager Dale Arrington outlined DeLand’s proposed new law.

In researching the issue, Arrington told commissioners, she found passionate disagreement among animal groups on the problems of stray and unwanted animals, the value of no-kill shelters and trap-neuter-release programs, and the costs of dealing with animal problems.

“Everyone agrees that we need to address this problem,” Arrington said, “but they don’t agree on what we need to do about it.”

One area of agreement among animal groups, however, is the value of spay-and-neuter programs.

“Everyone seems to agree on one point. If you want to gain control of the situation, you need to have a low-cost spay-and-neuter program in your community,” Arrington said.

The key to sharing in Volusia County’s low-cost sterilization program, she explained, is to pass a mandatory spay-neuter law.

Arrington told commissioners DeLand’s proposed law is patterned after the county ordinance, and provides plenty of options for pet-owners who don’t want to sterilize their animals.

“I’m really sorry we’re calling it a mandatory spay-and-neuter ordinance,” Arrington said. “I wouldn’t call it mandatory, because there are so many exemptions.”

Seven types of animals can be exempted from the sterilization:

• animals of registered breeds that compete in shows or other competitions

• an animal whose owner is a member of a bona fide animal club that maintains and enforces a code of ethics for breeding

• animals whose doctors pronounce them medically unfit for sterilization

• animals used in law enforcement

• service animals who assist people with disabilities

• animals whose owners have a contract for breeding the animals

• hunting or herding animals registered with a bona fide hunting or herding organization.

— info@beacononlinenews.com

Reader Comments

The comments posted below are posted by readers, not by The Beacon staff. These comments express the views and opinions of the authors, and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster. The comments forum is governed by these rules. Please use the report abuse link if you find offensive comments.

Comment on this article

Commenting is closed for this article.

If you would like to contribute a letter to the editor, please click here.

Did you find this story interesting or informative? Subscribe to The DeLand-Deltona Beacon to read more stories by Barb Shepherd, along with others from our award-winning writers. Subscribe now!