AR-News: (NC) Update on House Interim Committee on Animal Issues

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Charlotte Observer | 02/20/2004 | Panel presents ideas on animals

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Posted on Fri, Feb. 20, 2004
 




Panel presents ideas on animals

Price of pet food could rise to pay for increase in spaying, neutering

SCOTT DODD

Staff Writer


RALEIGH - Animal advocates and N.C. lawmakers want to crack down on 
overcrowded, poorly run government shelters and require more dogs and cats to be spayed 
and neutered statewide.
And they're talking about raising the price of pet food by several cents a 
bag to pay for it.
A House committee, appointed in response to the Observer series "Death at the 
Pound," has been meeting since last fall to develop legislation that will be 
considered by lawmakers in May.
Committee members split into groups to study the problems highlighted by the 
Observer series, including the high percentage of animals being killed in 
county shelters and the lack of public money for solutions.
Last year, more than 80,000 dogs and cats, many of them healthy and 
adoptable, were put down in Mecklenburg and surrounding counties, at a rate that 
doubled the national average.
The doomed dogs and cats often spend their last days in dirty, stench-filled 
shelters and die in crowded gas chambers. In the 15-county Charlotte area, 
only Mecklenburg and Burke use lethal injection for all animals.
In November, the state committee watched a video of dogs yelping, moaning and 
struggling to escape as they were gassed at the Yadkin County animal shelter. 
Some members cried and called the video eye-opening.
The committee's study groups shared their recommendations for change for the 
first time Thursday. The full committee, which includes animal advocates, 
veterinarians, county officials and lawmakers, will now decide which ideas to take 
to the legislature and how to pay for them.
The members in charge of finding money recommended an extra fee on pet food 
suppliers. Manufacturers already pay a fee for state inspections of their 
product. The committee recommends raising that fee by anywhere from $3 to $10 for a 
ton of dry dog or cat food, and an extra 25 cents to $1 for a case of canned 
cat food.
That would raise between an estimated $2.2 million and $8.3 million per year.
The committee expects the suppliers to pass the extra cost on to consumers, 
which would result in a maximum increase of 10 cents on a 20-pound bag of dog 
food or 2 cents on a can of cat food.
"If they understood the intent, I think the majority of the public would be 
willing to pay that to make sure that we have more animals spayed and 
neutered," said committee member Mort Congleton, executive director of the Wake County 
SPCA.
Experts say spaying and neutering is the only proven way to slow the growing 
population of dogs and cats. That's what fills shelters with unwanted animals 
and causes the high kill rates.
Committee members said their goal is that every dog and cat in the state be 
spayed or neutered, unless its owner has a breeding permit. Buncombe County, 
where Asheville is located, recently adopted an ordinance making it the first 
county in the state to make sterilization mandatory.
Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, said that while she hopes other counties 
will follow Buncombe's example, it's unlikely to become a statewide law. 
Instead, the committee members recommend other methods to reach their goal, including:
• Requiring all public and private animal shelters to spay or neuter every 
adopted dog or cat, or making new owners sign a contract promising to have the 
surgery performed on puppies and kittens once they reach the right age.
• Pumping more money into a state fund that reimburses counties that offer 
low-cost spay-neuter programs. The fund is so small now that many counties 
aren't willing to set up programs, believing they won't be reimbursed.
• Adding a new line to the state's individual income tax return that lets 
residents designate money for the state's spay-neuter fund.
• Requiring the state Agriculture Department to register and inspect city- 
and county-run shelters, which currently operate with no state oversight and 
vary widely in quality. Private shelters are already licensed and inspected.
• Creating a statewide public education campaign to inform residents of the 
high number of animal deaths and change attitudes about spaying and neutering, 
particularly in rural communities.
• Requiring counties to implant microchips in dogs and cats adopted from 
shelters so that the pets' owners can be easily identified if the animals are ever 
lost.
• Making all shelters, public and private, report the number of animals they 
house each year and whether they're adopted or killed. Currently, no one knows 
for sure how many dogs and cats are being killed statewide because no central 
agency tracks it.
The Agriculture Department, which would enforce many of the new rules, is 
concerned that the committee is overreaching.
"We can't do it with the existing resources," said state veterinarian David 
Marshall, whose division -- which includes animal welfare -- was cut by several 
staffers last year even as it struggled to deal with mad cow disease and 
other new threats to livestock.
He said that while the goal of spaying and neutering every dog and cat is a 
noble one, "the way it was presented is a wish list."
"It should probably be pursued at the county level," he said. Statewide, 
"it's just not feasible."
House Co-Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, created the animal committee last 
year with his counterpart, Republican Co-Speaker Richard Morgan. Black called 
the recommendations a great first step, but said he's concerned about their 
cost.
Raising the pet food inspection fee is a promising idea, he said in a 
statement. "As a pet owner myself, I would certainly be willing to pay a few pennies 
more for pet food in order to improve our animal welfare program."
He said he wants to hear the opinions of other pet owners and food 
manufacturers, though, before making a final decision on whether to support the hike.
The record of state committees actually getting their recommendations into 
law is spotty. Many hog-waste reforms came from a study committee, for example, 
but the recommendations of a group that met for two years on smart growth were 
ignored and never even proposed as law.
Death at the Pound
Read the series on the Web: www.charlotte.com/mld/
charlotte/news/special_packages/pets/


Scott Dodd: (704) 358-5168; sdodd at charlotteobserver.com. 

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