AR-News: (US NC) Panel seeks fix for the state's unwanted pets

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

3-29-04

News & Record

 Eric
 Dyer

RALEIGH -- North Carolina has a pet problem. There are too few homes for too 
many animals, fueling a high kill rate at local shelters. 
To reduce the population, a legislative study committee may recommend the 
General Assembly this year add a levy to the food that pet owners buy for Fluffy 
or Fido. Revenue would go toward sterilizing animals. 
The state House Interim Committee on the Prevention and Disposition of 
Unwanted and Abandoned Companion Animals was formed last summer to find ways to curb 
the number of dogs and cats killed at shelters. It came after The Charlotte 
Observer ran a series about the issue, noting that the statewide death rate -- 
between 35 and 40 animals per 1,000 people each year -- is more than double 
the national average.
What seems likely to receive attention is a plan for the state to help 
localities pay to sterilize felines and canines. Doing so would curtail rampant 
breeding and, therefore, the large number of unwanted pets packed into public 
shelters.



full story:

http://www.news-record.com/news/government/dyer_032904.htm 
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