Las Vegas pets benefiting from new critter control law, official says

“We are certainly not headed in the wrong direction,” said Christine Robinson, executive director of The Animal Foundation, which runs the Lied Animal Shelter.

The ordinance requires dogs and cats older than 4 months to be sterilized, with exceptions for licensed breeders and medical conditions. It also says dogs and cats impounded by the city cannot be returned to their owners or adopted unless the animal is fixed and microchipped.

A report compared shelter data from August 2008 to November 2009, when the ordinance was passed, with data from the date of passage through March.

The report found that spay and neuter surgeries doubled after the ordinance passed to 3,458. With the ordinance in place, 520 impounded animals were sterilized and returned to their owners, up from nine. The report found that 572 animals were microchipped before being returned, compared with 39 before the new law.

“These animals have been impounded by animal control officers and are ones that have, in the past, contributed to other animals becoming pregnant and thereby increasing the local animal population,” the report states.

Animal control officers issued 56 citations for violating the ordinance, which represents about 8 percent of violations found. Only those most resistant to following the ordinance were cited, said Tim Shattler, deputy director of the city’s detention and enforcement department.

Local veterinarians are performing more spay and neuter surgeries as well. Clark County, North Las Vegas and Henderson all have similar laws.

“We have a long way to go,” said Harold Vosko, president of the Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, which runs an animal shelter and an adoption program. “It’s a long haul, but I think we’re scratching the surface.”

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@review
journal.com or 702-229-6435.