Willow Glen Resident

News

City to vote on mandatory spaying and neutering of all pets

By Monica Heger

Homeless pets in San Jose have become a pricey problem, costing the city about $5 million annually.

To deal with the issue, San Jose is proposing major changes to its animal ordinance, including a mandatory spaying and neutering requirement for all dogs and cats, unless the owner is a registered breeder. The proposed changes would allow registered nonprofit rescue organizations to hold outdoor sales of animals. This would help reduce the number of euthanized animals by finding them homes.

The city council is scheduled to vote on the changes at its Oct. 24 meeting.

Jon Cicirelli, the deputy director of animal care and services with the city, said the changes were intended to ease the increasing problem of homeless pets; the ordinance has not been updated in about 40 years.

"Our law is antiquated," Cicirelli said. "It needs to be updated."

Cicirelli said the city would like to prevent the euthanasia of animals. Last year, the city euthanized more than 9,000 animals.

"One thing we're trying to bring to light is that we have this significant problem where we're forced into killing animals," Cicirelli said. "We don't think that's good public policy or the humane thing to do."

Mandatory spaying and neutering would reduce the number of euthanized animals because it would reduce the number of unwanted litters, Cicirelli said.

"If an animal wants to breed and it gets outside, it's going to breed," Cicirelli said. "There's little you can do to stop that instinct."

Cicirelli added, "If you're a legitimate breeder, you can still get a permit and keep doing that."

The proposed changes would reduce the "oops litters," he said.

Revisions to the animal ordinance would also reverse existing laws that prohibit the outdoor sale of animals. The original ordinance was passed as a result of people selling litters of kittens or puppies at flea markets. The animals were often not vaccinated or neutered and were frequently malnourished and kept outdoors without adequate food, water or shade. The proposed changes to the ordinance would still prohibit flea market sales, but would allow the humane society, for example, to hold an outdoor adoption fair.

Christine Benninger, president of the Humane Society Silicon Valley, said being allowed to have outdoor adoptions would greatly decrease the number of animals the organization would have to euthanize.

"The intent was never to stop the legitimate adoption of animals," Benninger said. "So tweaking the law a bit to ensure that registered organizations can perform adoptions in outside venues makes complete sense."

She said outdoor adoptions are key to her organization because many people don't want to visit the animal shelter. This lack of flexibility has caused a 10 percent drop in the adoption rate.

"We see a peak in adoption one to four days after adoption fairs," Benninger said.

Benninger said cats are the biggest problem, with an estimated 156,000 homeless cats in Santa Clara County. Benninger said cats make up two-thirds of the incoming animals to the shelter and 80 percent of them end up being euthanized. Owners only reclaim 2 percent.

"You don't hear much about it because cats are very elusive," Benninger said. "You don't see them running in the streets the way you would dogs. We have a tendency to treat cats as our second-class citizens to dogs."

The third major component of the ordinance puts further restrictions on the number of barnyard animals residents are allowed to own. The restrictions are based on the amount of space between houses. Currently the ordinance allows for six small animals if you are more than 20 feet but less than 30 feet from your closest neighbor. Under the new guidelines, the distance will be increased to 40 feet.

"San Jose continues to build up, and houses continue to get closer together," Cicirelli said. "Having animals in the back yard when your neighbor can essentially reach out their window and be in their yard is problematic."

Benninger agreed and said the humane society receives a lot of barnyard-type pets because neighbors complain about the noise and smell.

"Barnyard pets have a tendency to be a bit loud, a bit smelly, so it makes it difficult to have a lot of these pets in our suburban environment," Benninger said. "By being more restrictive, it will result in fewer animals being dumped in our shelters."

The ordinance already places restrictions on the number of dogs and cats residents can own. Currently, residents can have up to a total of five adult dogs and cats. But the total number of adult dogs cannot exceed three.

The proposed ordinance, while gaining widespread support from animal shelters, has some residents irked.

Bob Walker, co-chairman of the Lincoln Hound Society, a group that promotes responsible dog ownership, said some of the proposed changes are too restrictive, particularly the mandatory spay and neuter requirement.

He said he understands the logic behind the requirement, but doesn't like the idea of losing his right to choose.

Walker said he also finds the pet limit too restrictive. He has known people with more than three dogs who were responsible dog-owners.

"My view is that three is very restrictive," Walker said. "It seems like an arbitrary limit. You shouldn't write an ordinance that penalizes everybody."

For more information on the ordinance, visit www.sanjoseca.gov/clerk/CommitteeAgenda/BSN/061906/BSN061906_c.pdf.