[ SHOWGSD-L ] ALBUQUERQUE, NM MAYOR INTRODUCES SPAY/NEUTER PLAN
- From: "Ginger Cleary" <cleary1414@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Showgsd-L@Freelists. Org" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 15:13:52 -0400
ALBUQUERQUE, NM MAYOR INTRODUCES SPAY/NEUTER PLAN
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local_state_government/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19
859_4618620,00.html
Mayor introduces spay, neuter plan
By Erik Siemers
Tribune Reporter
April 13, 2006
The four puppies inside a hand-held carrier make a noise so tiny it's more
oink than bark.
AT A GLANCE
. Key points of Mayor Martin Chavez's ordinance:
. Pet owners must have their animals spayed or neutered and
microchipped by Dec. 31, 2007.
. Penalties would start at $100 for the first offense, $250 for the
second and $500 for the third and subsequent offenses.
. Pet owners who have a hobby breeder permit or veterinarian's notice
that spaying or neutering would harm the animal would be exempt. Also exempt
would be animals in the city for less than two weeks.
. The city would offer spay and neuter services for low-income
families.
Source: Mayor Martin Chavez
Few could deny that these Australian shepherd-mix puppies from the city's
West Side Animal Care Center are cute.
But their existence - part of an eight-puppy litter from a still-unspayed
mother - symbolizes a problem city leaders are trying to fight.
With the puppies on display Wednesday, Mayor Martin Chavez introduced his
Spay Neuter Albuquerque Pets Ordinance, or SNAP, that would make spaying,
neutering and microchipping mandatory for most pet owners.
The mayor is on a mission to make Albuquerque a so-called "live exit city"
by 2009, meaning shelters would not have to euthanize adoptable animals.
The city euthanizes an average of 1,000 dogs and cats a month, Chavez said.
"It (the ordinance) goes to the heart of the overpopulation problem in the
city of Albuquerque," Chavez said. "We've got to stop killing the animals."
Chavez hopes the ordinance will be introduced during Monday's City Council
meeting, though as of Wednesday he had yet to approach councilors about
carrying the bill.
Meanwhile, Councilor Sally Mayer on Monday plans to introduce her own
ordinance that would be tougher in some respects than Chavez's.
Mayer is opposed to Chavez's plan because it would not restrict breeders.
But her measure has attracted criticism of its own, mainly from hobby
breeders worried it would restrict them.
Mayer's ordinance, among other things, would:
Limit breeders to having permits for four unspayed or unneutered animals,
referred to as "intact animals."
Limit each female dog or cat to one litter a year. Previously, there were no
limitations.
Require owners to spay and neuter pets starting six months after the bill's
passage.
"We have a supply and demand problem. We've got to cut the supply," Mayer
said. "We shouldn't let anybody's hobby overrun our animal shelters."
Mayer's Humane and Ethical Animal Regulations and Treatment Ordinance, or
HEART, would vastly rewrite the city's pet policies. It would regulate pet
stores and expand the definition of animal cruelty.
Where Chavez's bill would exempt hobby breeders from having to spay or
neuter their animals, Mayer's would limit how many "intact" animals a
breeder could have.
Bill Green, a member of the Rio Grande Kennel Club and a delegate to the
American Kennel Club, said Mayer's limitations would punish responsible
breeders.
"The problem arises mostly from uncontrolled breeding of free roaming strays
along with irresponsible breeding operations, many of which are outside the
city, outside the county, outside the state and, increasingly, outside the
country," Green said.
Green couldn't comment on Chavez's proposal because he had yet to see it.
Chavez's $473 million general fund budget proposal submitted last week adds
$2.1 million in animal care money. That would pay for 27 new positions, new
adoption centers at Coronado and Cottonwood malls and two spay and neuter
vans.
Supporters say his plan is a start.
"It begins reducing the number of animals coming in," said Vickie Fischer, a
member of Kennel Kompadres, a fund-raising arm of the city's animal care
centers. "You have to increase demand and decrease the supply."
==============================
Ginger Cleary, Rome, GA
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the
most oppressive. C.S.Lewis
www.rihadin.com <http://www.rihadin.com>
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