City must keep strict spay/neuter law

Every month, 1,000 dogs and cats are brought to the Charleston Animal Society's doorstep. Many of these animals have been roaming wild, sometimes for weeks, and by mating with other strays, they add to overpopulation.

Four years ago, the city of Charleston and Charleston County followed the lead of many other municipalities and adopted a spay/neuter requirement in an effort to curb our massive animal overpopulation problem.

Under that law, any animal picked up by animal control and brought to the Charleston Animal Society must be spayed or neutered before it can be released to its owner. Licensed breeding animals and show dogs are exempt from the requirement.

There have been a few complaints by owners who do not want their pets to be sterilized. Fortunately, those complaints amount to one or two per year, and the program successfully sterilized hundreds of animals.

Incidentally, most of the complaints come from owners of hunting dogs and pit bulls, the types of dogs that dominate the population of animals admitted to the Charleston Animal Society.

This program, along with the low-cost spay/neuter clinic, has managed to keep the influx of animals right at or less than 1,000 per month even though the human population of the area has grown by leaps and bounds.

In February, the county changed its spay/neuter law so that first offenders could reclaim their pet for a $200 fine or have their pet spayed or neutered for only $75-$100 (depends on sex and size of the animal). Owners of pets found at-large for a second time in the county must pay a $1,000 fee or get the spay or neuter. The money from the fees is used to subsidize other spay and neuter programs.

To date, only one owner has paid the $1,000; the rest have all gone for the sterilization surgery.

Charleston has kept the original stronger version of the spay/neuter law, but a complaint from a Daniel Island resident has led City Council to reconsider the regulation.

The Charleston Animal Society is lobbying to keep the law strong enough to require spay/neuter of any animal caught at large that is not a licensed breeder or show dog.

But if the law is to be reduced to something similar to the county law, the society wants the initial fee to be significantly higher than $200.

A fee of $200 just doesn't cover the costs of trying to place a litter of puppies that might have been the result of an intact animal roaming the area.

Some residents may feel that it is unfair for the county or city to force someone to have a pet spayed or neutered. But consider the fact that the owner has broken the law by allowing the pet to run free.

Also consider that unsterilized pets are much more likely to roam. Not only does this lead to lots of unwanted puppies, it puts pets at risk of getting hit by a car or caught in a fight with another animal.

Some opponents even have complained that forcing this surgery has caused undue emotional stress on the owners' families. If you want to experience emotional stress, spend just a few hours at the shelter, where you can see animals losing their lives simply because there aren't enough homes for them.

On Jan. 13, Charleston City Council will meet to decide whether to weaken the law. Until there are homes for all 12,000 strays that are brought to the Charleston Animal Society every year, we must continue to have strict at-large laws and strong spay/neuter programs.

What you can do to help:

--Come to the City Council meeting Jan. 13 to show support for strong spay/neuter laws.

--Contact your City Council representative and tell him or her how you feel.

--Adopt an animal rather than buy it from a breeder.

Dr. Katherine A. Saenger owns Bees Ferry Veterinary Hospital and Boarding Kennel. Send questions to her at vetsaenger@bellsouth.net, or visit www.beesferry.com.