Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: February 19, 2019 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-d <br /> SUBJECT: Resolution Acknowledging February 26, 2019, as Spay Neuter Day in Orange <br /> County <br /> DEPARTMENT: Animal Services <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACTS: <br /> Spay Neuter Day Resolution <br /> 2018 Community Spay/Neuter Program Report Bob Marotto, Director, Animal Services, <br /> 919.932.4963 <br /> Cooper Hatch, Program Coordinator, <br /> Animal Services, 919.932.4965 <br /> Maureane Hoffman, Chair, Animal <br /> Services Advisory Board, <br /> 919.493.2999 <br /> PURPOSE: To officially resolve that February 26, 2019, is "Spay Neuter Day" in Orange County and <br /> receive an update regarding the County's spay and neuter program. <br /> BACKGROUND: Animal Services staff and the Animal Services Advisory Board (ASAB) are <br /> recommending that the BOCC adopt a resolution making February 26, 2019, "Spay Neuter Day" in <br /> Orange County. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has nationally designated the last <br /> 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 2018 include: <br /> • Spaying and neutering a total of 602 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 251 dogs and cats belonging to clients of the Department of Social <br /> Service (DSS) on a "no pay" basis; and <br />