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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: February 6, 2018 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 4 -a <br />SUBJECT: Resolution Acknowledging February 27, 2018 as Spay Neuter Day in Orange <br />Countv <br />DEPARTMENT: Animal Services <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Spay Neuter Day Resolution <br />2017 Annual Community Spay /Neuter Report <br />1 <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Bob Marotto, Director, Animal Services, <br />968 -2287 <br />Sarah Fallin, Program Coordinator, Animal <br />Services, 919 - 932 -4966 <br />Maureane Hoffman, Chair, Animal Services <br />Advisory Board, 919 - 493 -2999 <br />PURPOSE: To officially resolve that February 27, 2018 is "Spay Neuter Day" in Orange County and <br />briefly review two new initiatives in the County's Community Spay and Neuter Program. <br />BACKGROUND: Animal Services staff and the Animal Services Advisory Board (ASAB) <br />recommended that the BOCC adopt a resolution designating February 27, 2018 as "Spay Neuter <br />Day" in Orange County. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has nationally designated <br />the last Tuesday of each February as "International Spay Day ". <br />In Orange County, the issue of pet overpopulation is a priority. Working together, Animal Services <br />staff and the ASAB prepared a five -year strategic plan on the basis of best practices in the field of <br />animal welfare and public policy: Managing Pet Overpopulation: A Strategic Plan for Orange <br />County, North Carolina. Fundamental to this plan is targeting spays and neuters in the County to <br />decrease the rate of reproduction of dogs and cats, thereby containing the number of animals that <br />must be sheltered and the costs of caring for those animals. <br />The final stage of this plan is to address free roaming cats in Orange County. Accordingly, staff and <br />the ASAB prepared a plan called Managing Free - Roaming Cats in Orange County, North <br />Carolina. A central component of this plan is to more effectively sterilize these (and other) cats in <br />order to reduce their numbers over time. <br />Significant developments for calendar year 2017 include: <br />• Spaying and neutering a total of 418 cats and dogs on the basis of the County's partnership <br />with AnimalKind and Spay Neuter Assistance Program - North Carolina; <br />• Spaying and neutering 303 dogs and cats belonging to clients of the Department of Social <br />Service (DSS) on a "no pay" basis; and <br />