As much as I love my own cats, I am saddened and concerned at the present cat overpopulation. I have always had cats, and although my parents neglected to "fix" all of our pets, since I have been on my own I have always had my cats spayed and neutered. Today, the presence of too many wild and feral cats is difficult to accept without doing anything to help.
So, what do you think about what is being considered in Rhode Island? I, for one, am in favor.
Law would require cat owners to spay or neuter pets
Quote:
Law would require cat owners to spay or neuter pets
By M.L. Johnson, Associated Press Writer | May 24, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Rhode Island could become the first state to require cat owners to spay or neuter their pets under legislation passed Wednesday by the General Assembly.
The House approved a bill 59-3 on Wednesday to require cat owners to spay or neuter pets older than 6 months unless they pay $100 for a breeder's license or permit for an intact animal. Violators will be fined $75 per month.
The Senate previously passed the bill, and it now goes to Gov. Don Carcieri for his signature. The governor is still reviewing the legislation, said his spokesman Jeff Neal.
East Providence, Pawtucket and Warwick already have similar municipal ordinances.
Rep. Charlene Lima, D-Cranston, the legislation's main sponsor in the House, said she hopes Rhode Island will lead the nation in instituting a spaying requirement.
"Society is judged by how they treat their most vulnerable," said Lima, who sponsored legislation last year to ban the mass euthanization of pets.
Supporters say the bill could save thousands of cats from being killed each year and ease overcrowding in animal shelters. Private shelters and municipal pounds in Rhode Island killed 5,452 cats from 2002 to 2004, according to the state Department of Environmental Management.
"We need to get those numbers down," said Dennis Tabella, founder and president of Defenders of Animals, which backed the bill.
Tabella said he believes the spaying bill will help reduce cat overpopulation, much as rabies vaccination laws have helped slow the spread of that disease among dogs.
But other animal rights advocates, while wanting to reduce the state's cat population, worry the bill could prompt cat owners to abandon their pets rather than risk a fine or pay several hundred dollars for the birth control procedures.
"I assume they are either going to turn their cats into a shelter, turn them loose or spay or neuter them," said Ernest Finocchio, director of the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "One is a good choice. Two are not good choices."
The bill has a provision for low-income pet owners to receive subsidies for low-cost spay and neuter surgery. It also exempts farmers.
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