Abandoned foreclosure pets are being addressed in Las Vegas through a city ordinance.
Recently, the Las Vegas City Council announced that starting April 1, all cats and dogs in the city must be neutered or spayed to cut down the rising number of stray animals and the number of animals being euthanized. The ordinance will also cut down the number of animals abandoned in foreclosed properties.
As foreclosures continue to clobber Las Vegas, the earlier pets are controlled, the smaller the number of abandoned pets found in real estate foreclosed homes for sale, local officials said.
The only exemptions from the ordinance are animals not fit medically to undergo spaying or neutering, animals trained for law enforcement and service and animals with professional permits.
According to city officials, violation of the ordinance would mean a charge of misdemeanor that carries fines of $225 to $1,000.
The ordinance, which will affect all cats and dogs aged 4 months and older, has gained the support of animal rescue groups and veterinarians throughout the city. They understand the need to prevent the rampant reproduction of animals that typically are abandoned on the streets when owners can no longer care for them. The record numbers of abandoned foreclosure pets in the city are also a strong rationale for the ordinance.
At the regional Lied Animal Shelter, which serves the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas and Clark County, the number of pet dogs received for care or for impoundment has risen by 10 percent annually for the past 3 years and the number of pet cats taken in has jumped up annually by 5 percent.
The shelter now receives around 50,000 animals every year but euthanizes about 50 percent of the total number because owners do not get them back or adoptive owners cannot be found.
According to shelter veterinarian Amy Mitchell, the shelter cannot depend on pet adoption as a solution to the problem of shelter overcrowding. The animal control problem should be solved in the early stages, Mitchell explained.
Nevertheless, the animal shelter was still criticized for the ordinance. Opponents argued that neutering or spaying animals at the age of four months is too early and that no study yet has shown the positive impact of neutering and spaying programs on animal control.
Proponents, meanwhile, reiterated that the ordinance will be reviewed yearly to see its effects on the reduction of abandoned foreclosure pets and on animal control efforts.