The Baldwin County Board of Commissioners has been promoting a new amendment to the Animal Control Ordinance, signed on April 15, that adds a requirement for pet owners to spay and neuter their pets to prevent unwanted pregnancies. “The intake numbers at the shelter were so high we had nowhere to put these animals because people were dropping off so many litters,” said Baldwin County Board of Commissioners Chairman Andrew Strickland. “We could not get them adopted out fast enough or to rescues fast enough.”
As an example, Strickland recounted that in a three-day period between December and January the shelter had a record number of 70 animals moved to other rescue organizations or adopted. However, at the end of that period the shelter still had 118 animals.
“It was taxing our staff to care for the high numbers to the point they could not answer regular calls from the public. So, that is what prompted us to look into the issue alongside nonprofit organizations petitioning commissioners to solve this issue,” said Strickland.
Strickland toured the shelter himself and described the experience as “heartbreaking.” Following this tour, he took time to research the issue, speak with other commissioners, and study how other communities resolved the high numbers.
“I came across a study conducted in 1990 that was commissioned by the Minnesota State Legislator that looked at communities that had instituted spay and neuter ordinances across the country. It found that over a 5-7 year period, you can see a 30-50% reduction in intake numbers at your shelters if these policies are instituted,' said Strickland. “Given that, we looked at Macon-Bibb and Floyd counties that have similar ordinances and we modeled ours after Macon-Bibb.”
According to the ordinance, a citizen may not own, have custody, or harbor a cat or dog six months of age or older in Baldwin County that has not been spayed or neutered unless the person holds an unaltered animal permit for each unaltered dog or cat, or unless the dog or cat is otherwise exempt, exemptions are broken down in Sec. 14-76 of the ordinance.
An unaltered animal permit is $100, and the owner of the unaltered animal must apply with the documents listed in the ordinance. These permits may be given to dogs appropriately trained and being used as a service dog, being used by search-andrescue agencies for searchand- rescue activities, dogs designated as breeding stock by an appropriate agency or organization approved by the director of the Baldwin County Animal Control Department, dogs or cats certified by a licensed veterinarian as having a health reason for not being spayed/ neutered, dogs which are appropriately trained and being used for herding of other animals, livestock guardian dogs, or hunting dogs, dogs or cats boarded in a licensed kennel or a business which boards animals for professional training or resale, and dogs or cats that are registered with the American Kennel Club, the Cat Fancier Association or other recognized registry, or trained and kept for the purpose of show, field trials or agility trials.
“We will be offering a low-cost spay-and-neuter option through Paws for Georgia. We will work with them to transport animals from Baldwin County to Macon where SAFE (Saving Animals From Euthanasia) is and they will perform the procedure and bring the animals back,” said Strickland. “We hope to get to the point we can have a facility in Baldwin County and that Paws for Georgia can raise enough money to be able to accomplish this without a lot of taxpayer money being involved.”
According to Strickland, a typical spay or neuter would be $200-$300 but the low-cost option will be $60. This can be further reduced to $40 if the owner can prove financial need.
“If you tie all of this together, we will be able to reduce our numbers at the shelter which will help a ballooning budget item and in the long run, save taxpayer money. There is no amount of money you can throw at this unless you handle it a different way and that is the essence of the ordinance,” said Strickland. “This ordinance is compliance; it is not to hurt people. If an owner get issued a ticket and the owner complies, we will throw the ticket out.”