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Watch Your Language

by C. McGowan

 

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MSN Information & Links

Mandatory Spay Neuter (MSN) laws are sweeping the country.  Over pet population is always cited as the reason that extreme measures are necessary.  Unfortunately some breeders even fall for this ploy.  I guess the first question one should ask "is there an over pet population problem"? 

 

I'm sure it would not be difficult to convince the average person that there is a problem.  Many animal rights sites on the internet pound home this fact.  Shelter statistics are used to further convince an unsuspecting public of this fact but is it a fact?  Since there is not any uniform data reporting requirements on a national or state basis using shelter stats is virtually useless. However when MSN is proposed in your area shelter/AC stats are all you will have to work with.

 

The reason AC/Shelter stats are not accurate is most facilities do not and are not required to keep detailed records.  The number of animals euthanized in an area is not the "real" number as this total will also include animals that are not adoptable.  Animals that are not adoptable are: owner surrendered for euthanasia due to age, health, or aggression, severely injured animals where owner is unknown, animals that died in kennel(became ill due to shelter conditions), dogs confiscated in dog fighting cases, and feral cats. 

 

Feral cats are a hotbed topic.  Feral cats by definition are a wild cat.  This is different from a stray un-owned cat that has become separated from their owners.  A feral can not be handled they are wild rather like a raccoon, opossum, or the cotton-tail bunnies that are on my property.  Feral cats and "how" local governments chose to deal with them is not going to be discussed here.  The reason they are tied to MSN is that their numbers are used against dog breeders to purport the need for draconian laws.  MSN will not solve the feral cat issue and therefore their numbers should be removed when purporting the need for MSN.  Additionally many areas do not provide solutions to the feral issue or do not provide for colonies in their laws then it is not appropriate to blame the public alone for the problem.  In these areas there is usually a policy of:  If there is a complaint AC officers will round up the cats and transport them to a shelter where the policy is to euthansia as ferals are unadoptable.  What about the ferals that are not subject to a complaint?  They are left to reproduce.  When their numbers grow there will not doubt be a complaint.

 

 

 

 

 

Fact Sheet on Areas That Have MSN Laws

 

     MSN, breeder licensing, and differential licensing has increased budgets, raised euthanasia rates, increased impounds and owner turn-ins, and has been correlated with rabies outbreaks in jurisdictions where rabies vaccine and licensing requirements were tied to MSN.

Some areas that initially enacted MSN have since repealed their MSN laws, while others have found implementation of MSN laws unproductive and prohibitively expensive.

City of Los Angeles-the first quarter stats after passing MSN show that impounds increased 20% (2,322 add’l animals), euthanasia increased 31% (864 add’l), and their live save rate fell from 69% to 66%. 

Montgomery County, MD--repealed MSN after the estimated 550 breeding permits per year in reality turned out to be an average of 3o per year. It was estimated that licensing decreased by 50%. Euthanasia rates did drop by 21.5%, but prior to the law, it was declining at a rate of 34%. The county threw out all breeder permits, differential licensing, and the use of a license number for advertising stating these proved disastrous for the county.  It was estimated it would take 5 yrs to return to the licensing compliance experienced prior to the laws passing.

Fort Worth, TX--repealed MSN after licensing compliance fell off(down to %7.8), which led to a reduction in rabies vaccinations and as a result rabies outbreaks in the county.  Rabies cases increased from 45 cases to 90.

Los Angeles, CA--since passage of the "pay or spay" law in 2000, there was a decline in licensing, but the city's animal control budget increased 269% from $6.7 million to $18 million.  The city had to hire new officers, equipment and trucks to attempt to enforce the laws.

King County, WA—2nd in the nation to implement MSN- licensing decreased; animal control expenses increased 56.8%, and revenues only 43.2%. Euthanasia rates fell at a slower rate than prior to enactment of MSN.  Net cost over life of the ordinance $8,397,096 as of 2005.San Mateo, CA—repealed MSN- after passage of MSN dog deaths increased 126% and cats 86%. Licenses decreased by 35%.  Connie Urbanski, Program Manager for Animal Control Services stated “It was apparent that this was not cost effective nor did it promote any goodwill whatsoever”.  

Camden County, NJ--quoting PAWS-NJ on euthanasia in Camden County, "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 NJ".

Fort Wayne & Bloomington, IN- report that breeder permits are unenforceable and a failure in their cities.

Denver, CO- passed MSN in 1995 and required spay/neutering of ALL animals over the age of 6mths.  In spite of extensive door to door canvassing and taking into consideration the average lifespan of a dog is 10 years you would expect to see low to no shelter intakes.  In 2007 intake in just 2 of the 15 animal shelters, was 46,199 dogs, 39,276 cats for a total of 85,475 animals. 

Santa Cruz, CA--In a comparative study of Santa Cruz and surrounding counties, though Santa Cruz had MSN, it had consistently higher impounded and euthanasia rates for dogs and cats than the other counties in the study. The Santa Cruz budget increased from $647,724 to $1,329,637.  Additionally MSN appeared to have actually "stalled" euthanasia decreases to a slower rate than prior to enacting MSN.

It is clear that Mandatory Spay/Neuter, differential licensing, and breeder licensing does not work.  It is time for local officials to stop bending to the will of a handful of outspoken Animal Rights fanatics and others who profit from these laws.  In these tough economic times raising licensing fees, creating expensive permits, and  

 

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