City Council approves first reading of
pet spay-neuter-microchip ordinance
November 25, 2015
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Santa Paula had the first true no-kill pet shelter in Ventura County and now is poised to become the first city in the county to mandate owners to spay, neuter and microchip their pets, both dogs and cats.
The City Council discussed the issue and approved the new rules asking that some aspects of the new ordinance be researched or refined before it is returned for final adoption.
The policy is similar to one adopted for the unincorporated area by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in 2013.
According to the city staff report, the city contracts with Santa Paula-based SPARC, which operates the first no-kill shelter in the county, to handle lost and abandoned animals for $6,000 a month.
The city is in negotiations with SPARC, which handles local animal services and has been saving the city thousands over what was being spent to contract with the county.
During 2014, according to the report, members of the public brought 731 stray dogs to SPARC and an additional 336 were transported to the shelter by city animal control.
“Stray dogs are a public safety hazard and unsterilized dogs are more likely to stray,” noted City Attorney John Cotti’s report. “Stray dogs bite and attack people, cause traffic accidents, spread disease, damage property and hinder the quality of life for residents in a community. Unaltered males search for mates and are attracted in packs to female dogs in heat.”
In addition, spaying and neutering helps the animals’ overall physical and emotional health and prolongs life.
The report noted, “Fixed animals are also less likely to roam, and therefore less likely to be lost, hit by a car or impounded…”
Residents would have to spay or neuter and microchip all cats and dogs over 4 months old according to the new ordinance. Although licensed breeders and registered show dogs and cats would be exempt, proof and or testing would be required. Service and enforcement dogs would be exempt as would those animals with a “doctor’s note” attesting to the serious risk or bodily harm risked by the operation.
The proposed ordinance provides a one-year grace period during which the city would conduct public education and outreach about the new law. Thereafter, penalties for noncompliance would be imposed that brings fines of $100 to $500 per violation.
Numerous speakers urged the council to adopt the ordinance including Sharon Clark of CARL who noted, “I wholeheartedly thank you,” for taking a step she expected from other cities after the county adopted their ordinance.
Santa Paula, said Nicky Gore-Jones, the executive director of SPARC is a “trailblazing city” by first partnering with the no-kill shelter and now implementing the spay-neuter program.
Tara Diller and Donna Gillespie, the director and chief deputy of Ventura County Animal Services, told the council the county program was carefully vetted before it was implemented and has worked successfully.
Kerri Anderson, a veterinarian who works at SPARC part-time, told the council that the shelter takes in an average of 46 animals per 1,000 residents, which should be a maximum of 15 animals per 1,000 resident, or about 450 annually.
SPARC co-founder Jeanne Marie Webster said shelters across the nation are “overrun with kittens and puppies,” that must be killed because there is no space for them.
“Hundreds of thousands of animals did not ask to be born to die,” she noted. “Having animals born to be killed is inhumane…”
Vice Mayor Martin Hernandez thanked the “pet advocates for all you do,” and said he believes the proposed ordinance is “Very humane and the thing to do…”
As chief aide to Supervisor Kathy Long, Hernandez remembered well the controversy over the ordinance but said, the waiting period and its caveat of public education and outreach, it has been successful.
“I’m very, very pleased,” he added, “that we are the first incorporated city to adopt such an ordinance.”
Rancher Rob Frost disagreed telling the council the ordinance would impact those that use dogs for hunting and ranch work.
“I respect your program here but I think you’re taking up too much for the citizens and the people that use dogs in making their living…I think it’s insane,” said Frost.
The council unanimously — Councilman Jim Tovias was absent from the meeting — voted to bring back the ordinance for final adoption.
