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Capitola Adopts Spay and Neuter Ordinance
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Capitola Adopts Spay and Neuter Ordinance
Pet Owners Who Plan to Breed Can Get Special Permits
By Linda Fridy
It’s unanimous: With the city of Capitola’s recent adoption of a spay and neuter ordinance, all jurisdictions in Santa Cruz County now require pet owners to prevent unwanted litters or get a permit for breeding. The law is one of the most stringent in California, and has drawn protest in the past.
The Capitola City Council’s 5-0 vote on Apr. 13 came nearly 11 years after Santa Cruz County led the state with the first spay-neuter requirement.
Now Capitola dog and cat owners must spay or neuter pets by the age of six months, just like their counterparts living in the unincorporated areas of the County and other local cities.
Exceptions are granted for health, service animals and breeders, but a permit is necessary.
Councilman Mike Termini described the new ordinance as “municipal house-keeping.”
“We realized that we were standing alone on this, since all the other municipalities had already passed it,” he said.
The spay-neuter requirement has become widely accepted in the last decade.
“It’s a tool within the state of California to control animal populations and prevent euthanasia,” explained Richard Hill, Capitola City Manager.
However, some local pet owners believe these ordinances have as much of a financial goal as one of encouraging responsible pet ownership.
“The intent of the ordinance is to reduce the expense of dealing with … unwanted animals that end up in shelters. Governmental agencies would need an enormous amount of financial resources to enforce spay-neuter ordinances across the board,” said Sandi Pensinger, president of the Capitola-based Coastal Dog Owners’ Group.
“Fortunately, awareness of responsible pet ownership is also growing through education and peer pressure in addition to enforcement.”
Enforcement of New Ordinance Difficult
The enforcement of the ordinance primarily will fall to County Animal Services, which operates shelters in Scotts Valley and Watsonville, and sometime soon a new facility in Live Oak. Currently, Capitola hires its own community service officer to help Animal Services with animal control. Along with the County of Santa Cruz, Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Watsonville jointly own and operate ASA.
“For things like licenses, dogs off leash, barking dog complaints, we provide our own enforcement,” said Capitola’s Hill.
If an unaltered pet is picked up, the owner will receive a warning to either spay or neuter the animal or apply for a $15 unaltered animal certificate. The application requires proof of proper veterinary care and an agreement to limit litters. A second offense results in a mandatory spay-neuter order.
The annual license fee is also higher for unaltered dogs, at $40 a year compared to $20 for pets that have been spayed or neutered, noted Juanita Gunter, licensing specialist for County Animal Services.
Dogs must be licensed by four months of age, and although the spay-neuter law does not kick in until six months, Gunter recommends that puppy owners have the operation around the same time they schedule the rabies shot, which is required for a dog license. Dogs must be licensed to get an unaltered animal certificate.
Gunter also noted that senior citizens get a discount on renewal of the annual license fees, with no charge for altered dogs and $20 for unaltered.
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