Los Angeles animal shelters put nearly 60,000 homeless animals to death in 1998    Message Board: Spay or Pay?

September 21, 1999
Web posted at: 2:33 p.m. EDT (1833 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Los Angeles city leaders, in an effort to rein in the city's epidemic of homeless dogs and cats, have proposed an ordinance that has raised some eyebrows -- a tax on pets that have not been spayed or neutered.

"The city of Los Angeles has the worst stray problem in the country ... you have mothers walking their children to school, carrying baseball bats, you have senior citizens trapped in their cars," said Jackie David of the Department of Animal Services.

The ordinance calls for dogs and cats over 4 months old to be spayed or neutered or the owners must purchase two permits -- an Unaltered Animal Permit, which costs $100 per pet year and a Breeding Permit, costing $200 per animal per year.

The permits would be required of all unaltered pets, including those that are not allowed to breed and those that are kept indoors.

"A number of cities around the country have successfully implemented similar ordinances and have seen significant drops in shelter populations," Animal Services Director Dan Knapp told the Los Angeles Times.

Animal control officers capture a stray dog

Knapp said his department estimated that about 45,000 stray dogs and 60,000 stray cats create public health hazards as they roam the city. In 1998, the city's six animal shelters put 59,663 animals to death.

The proposal, created in response to a request by the Los Angeles City Council, drew praise from animal rights groups and scorn from animal breeders at two public hearings.

"Why would we want to continue breeding dogs when we already have too many dogs and we can't find homes for the dogs in the kennels now?" asked Cristy Suyeg, a member of the Friends for Pets Foundation, at a public hearing.

Many animal owners who breed their pets say they can't afford the permits because they don't make enough money selling the offspring of each animal. They also say maintain they're being impacted by problems they didn't create.

"I will not say there aren't irresponsible breeders, but is it fair to punish me and tax me for the actions of someone who is breaking the law? Go after those people," said cat breeder Chuck Ober.

At least one more public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled before it is put to a council vote in December.

Correspondent Siobhan Darrow contributed to this story.

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