Mutts: Should spaying, neutering be mandatory? - A blog for animal lovers on pets, dogs, cats, shelters and animal rescue

Volusia County, Fla., thinks so, and this week it became the first jurisdiction in Central Florida to order pet owners to sterilize their dogs and cats.

The ordinance, while controversial, has "limited bite," the Orlando Sentinel reports. When it takes effect in September it will be enforced only through complaints, and there are lots of exemptions.

The ordinance, designed to reduce the number of unwanted animals, relies heavily on people to comply voluntarily.

Similar laws have been considered across the country in recent years, and are generally opposed by breeders, who argue that they are unconstitutional because it unfairly targets responsible pet owners and could put animals' health at risk.

Breeders and some others will be exempt from the Volusia County law.

Representatives from shelters applauded the County Council's move. It comes at time when the shelters are overrun with kittens. At Halifax Humane Society in Daytona Beach, more than 11,000 animals were euthanized in the past fiscal year, said Mel Stack, president of the animal shelter's board.

(Photo by Barbara V. Perez/Orlando Sentinel)

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Please enter the letter "i" in the field below:

About this blog

John Woestendiek has been a features reporter at The Sun for six years. Previously he worked as a reporter, columnist, national correspondent and editor at four other newspapers, and received a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 1987 for his reporting on prisons and mental institutions for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Woestendiek lives in South Baltimore with his dog, Ace.
• A big, sloppy face-licking welcome
• E-mail John

Comments

I wholeheartedly believe in spay/neuter legislation. LA recently adopted a policy similar to this and Chicago also has legislation in the works right now.

If the government can mandate rabies vaccinations, I see no problem in also mandating spay/neuter programs. If a person wishes to breed their dog, they simply purchase a breeding license. This way the accidental backyard breeding is significantly diminished and the number of homeless pets goes down astronomically. If someone plans on "selling" their dogs puppies, then surely they wouldn't have a problem purchasing a license to do so.

In an ideal world, education would be enough, and maybe some day it will be, but for now the problem is too large and the public is too uncaring. "Responsible pet ownership" should be a priviledge, not an absolute right.

I would love to support legislation like this in the Baltimore area. Please keep us updated if anything of the like comes to our area.

Posted by: Julie | June 10, 2008 5:50 PM