Animal Shelter Statistics 10-2009

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Animal Services Monthly Report October, 2009 6 for intact animals. Orange County has had differential licensing for many years, and in 2007 that differential became $5 for sterilized dogs and cats and $30 for intact dogs and cats. Other legislative options include an extra redemption fee for intact animals recovered from the Animal Services Center, which can be refunded if they are sterilized within a given time period, and permit systems that require a permit for dogs and cats that are going to be bred. Staff and the Animal Services Advisory Board expect to develop these programs and others as part of a strategic spay/neuter plan that is being drafted and will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration. No less essential is a community spay/neuter program for animal companions such as dogs and cats that promotes responsible pet ownership and enables all community members to spay and neuter their own pets. The development of the Community Spay/Neuter Fund during the past year, in coordination with the Animal Services Advisory Board, has been a major accomplishment for the Animal Services Department. Funded by an increase in the differential licensing fee for unaltered pets, this fund will allow the Animal Services Department to work with several existing programs to promote Spay/ Neuter and responsible pet ownership throughout Orange County in the coming months and years. In 2008, Animal Services, with assistance from the Department of Social Services, partnered with AnimalKind’s “The $20 Fix” to offer low-cost and no-cost spay/neuter surgeries to pets of qualifying households in Orange County. It is the hope of Animal Services and Orange County that this program will increase the number of pets that are spayed and neutered in the County, and in turn help eliminate the ongoing problem of pet overpopulation we face as a community. More information and an application can be found online at www.animalkind.org. Moreover, there is an overwhelming need to address the deep-seated problem of feral cats in Orange County. Month after month feral cats (as defined by their community history and/or observed behaviors in the context of the shelter) are one of the largest groups of animals euthanized. In October, 26 feral cats were euthanized, and they comprised 19 percent of all cats euthanized during the month (and 13 percent of all animals euthanized). In fact, euthanasia of feral cats is not a “shelter problem,” but rather a community problem, and it needs to be addressed as such. There is a great need for initiatives in the area of public education to raise awareness insofar as euthanasia is the end result for most of these creatures, and their presence must be considered in relation to the risk of rabies, given the ongoing and endemic nature of so-called “raccoon rabies” in our County and region. Thus addressing the problem of feral cats has also been a major objective for the County’s Animal Services Department, and will be included in the Community Spay/ Neuter Fund’s program scope, beginning next fiscal year.