Animal Shelter Statistics - 03-2007

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Animal Services Monthly Report March, 2007 5 To work toward the desideratum o f ending euthanasia as a means of population control, it is thus essent ial to posit ively impact the number of animals that come into Orange County’s Animal Shelter in the course of the year. Essent ial to this is a communit y spay/neuter program for animal companio ns such as dogs and cats that promotes responsible pet ownership and enables all communit y members to spay and neuter their own pets. Developing such a program through the County’s Animal Services Department, in coordination with the Animal Services Advisory Board, remains a fundamental and realizable object ive for the foreseeable future. No less essent ial is progressive legislation that is enforced in an effect ive, fair and reasonable manner. A starting po int is what is sometimes referred to as “different ial licensing”—that is, licensing or registration fees that are much lower for spayed and neutered animals than for intact animals. Other legislative options include an extra redempt ion fee for intact animals recovered fro m the Animal Shelter, which may 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. Moreover, there is an overwhelming need to address the deepseated problem of feral cats in Orange County. Month after month feral cats (as defined by their communit y history and/or observed behaviors in the context of the shelter) are the largest single group of animals that are euthanized. In March, 23 feral cats were euthanized, and they comprised 56 percent of all cats euthanized during the month (and 25 percent of all animals euthanized). The euthanasia of feral cats is not in fact a “shelter problem,” but rather a communit y problem that needs to be addressed as such. There is a great need for init iatives in the area of public educat ion to raise awareness insofar as euthanasia is the end result for many of these creatures, and their presence must be considered in relation to the risk of rabies, given the ongoing and endemic nature of socalled “raccoon rabies” in our County and region. Thus addressing the problem o f feral cats must beco me part of a strategic plan for the County’s Animal Services Department, again working in coordination with our concerned cit izenry through the Animal Services Advisory Board. These are illustrations o f the kinds of the positive and proactive approaches that are needed to address the problem of pet overpopulation as a communit y problem. In working to reduce the number of unwanted animals that must be sheltered in our own communit ies, we would also expect improvements in so me o f the outcomes of our sheltering practices. We should all look forward to the day when there are very good numbers of adoptions and “live releases” but no less notable ongoing decreases in the number of animals that come to our shelter. Rabies Cycle, Rabies Prevention and Rabies Control Wit h respect to rabies control—historically a core function of animal control—we have continued to see positive rabies tests based upon public reporting and our surveillance of