HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-18-2014 - 4cORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: February 18, 2014
Action Agenda
Item No. 4 -c
SUBJECT: Resolution Acknowledging February 25, 2014 as Spay Neuter Day in Orange
County
DEPARTMENT: Animal Services PUBLIC HEARING: No
ATTACHMENT(S):
Spay Neuter Day Resolution
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bob Marotto, Director, Animal Services
968 -2287
Sarah Fallin, Program Director, Animal
Services, 942 -7387, ext. 224
Michelle Walker, Chair, Animal Services
Advisory Board, 919 - 448 -8029
PURPOSE: To consider a resolution declaring February 25, 2014 as "Spay Neuter Day" in
Orange County.
BACKGROUND: Animal Services staff and the Animal Services Advisory Board (ASAB)
recommends that the BOCC adopt a resolution declaring February 25, 2014 as "Spay Neuter
Day" in Orange County. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has nationally
designated the last Tuesday of each February as "International Spay Day ". Since the creation
of this day, participants have spayed or neutered more than a million animals, preventing
millions of potential births. As a result, millions of taxpayer dollars have been saved that may
have otherwise been needed to provide animal control, care and sheltering for the offspring of
these animals.
In Orange County, the issue of pet overpopulation is a priority. In 2010, the BOCC received and
discussed Nbobhjoh! QF d Pwf sgpgvrbopo;! B! TLEbd hjd! Qrbo! gps! Psbohf ! Dpvou? -! Opsui
DbsprjDb (see http: / /www.co. orange. nc. us/ animalservices /spayneuter.asp). Animal Services
staff and the ASAB prepared this five -year strategic plan on the basis of best practices in the
field of animal welfare and public policy. Fundamental to this plan is targeting spay and neuter
to decrease the rate of reproduction of dogs and cats and thereby contain the number of
animals that must be sheltered and the costs of caring for those animals.
Since the creation of the County's Community Spay and Neuter Fund, Animal Services staff has
worked with the ASAB to establish and develop a strong, proactive and cost - effective spay and
neuter program. Significant outcomes for calendar year 2013 and program highlights are
available at:
http:// orangecountync. qov/ AnimalServices/ documents /2013CommunitySpayNeuterReport 000.
pdf
The outcomes include:
• Spaying and neutering a total of 472 cats and dogs on the basis of the partnership
between Animal Services and AnimalKind (which offers The $20 Fix);
• Spaying and neutering 373 dogs and cats belonging to clients of the Department of
Social Service (DSS) on a "no pay" basis;
• Helping reduce the number of animals admitted to Orange County's Animal Services
Center from an annual average of 4,315 for 2005 -2009 and an average of 3,419 for
2010 -2013 to 3,207 in 2013.
This year, Animal Services is working with Spay Neuter Assistance Program - North Carolina
(SNAP -NC) to spay and neuter cats and dogs on "Spay Neuter Day" from families who receive
service from the Department of Social Services. In addition, Animal Services will continue
ongoing outreach efforts around the theme of "Beat the Heat" to sterilize cats and dogs before
they procreate and add to the number of "surplus" pets that enter the Animal Services Center
during the summer months when the animal shelter population peaks. Staff has rented
billboards on Highway 70 in Hillsborough for seven (7) weeks starting February 10 and running
through March 31 for the "Beat the Heat" campaign
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Events and outreach in conjunction with this year's Spay Neuter Day
USA involve budgeted expenditures from the County's Community Spay and Neuter Fund. The
FY 2013 -14 operating budget for the Community Spay and Neuter Program is $76,600. In
addition to spay and neuter days with SNAP -NC, these funds are used to subsidize "low cost"
and "no cost" sterilization of cats and dogs belonging to Orange County residents; promote spay
and neuter through advertising and direct mailings; and provide staff support for the program.
See
http:// orangecountync .gov /AnimalServices/ documents /2013CommunitySpayNeuterReport 000.
pdf for more information about the program and its operation last year.
Presently, the fund balance for the Community Spay and Neuter Program is $85,310.54. The
primary sources of funds have been the $20 pet licensing differential for intact cats and dogs
and reimbursements from the North Carolina Spay Neuter Reimbursement Program. Additional
funding has come from donations made through the Orange County Community Giving Fund
and in conjunction with we- licensing. Funds are being utilized to sustain, support and promote
the sterilization of cats and dogs that likely otherwise would not be spayed or neutered in order
to control medium and long -term animal care and control costs and limit the county's use of
euthanasia as a means of population control.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board adopt the proposed resolution
and authorize the Chair to sign the resolution.
RES- 2014 -010
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SPAY NEUTER DAY RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, cats and dogs provide companionship to and share the homes of
thousands of individuals in Orange County; and
WHEREAS, the problem of pet overpopulation costs the taxpayers of Orange County
hundreds of thousands of dollars annually through animal control and sheltering
programs aimed at coping with unwanted and homeless cats and dogs; and
WHEREAS, humane societies and shelters throughout the country have to euthanize
approximately four million cats and dogs each year, although many of them are healthy
and adoptable, due to the lack of critical resources such as money, space, and good
adoptive homes; and
WHEREAS, the Animal Services Advisory Board and the Animal Services Department
have made correcting pet overpopulation a priority, and prepared Nbobhjoh! QF d
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WHEREAS, spaying and neutering cats and dogs, among other animal companions,
has been shown to drastically reduce overpopulation; and
WHEREAS, Animal Services has partnered with AnimalKind and the Department of
Social Services to offer "low cost" and "no cost" spay and neuter services for pets of
qualifying Orange County residents; and
WHEREAS, veterinarians, animal care and control organizations, animal welfare
organizations, and private individuals have joined together again this year to advocate
and support the spaying and neutering of companion animals on "Spay Neuter Day
2014 ";
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by Orange County that February 25, 2014 is
declared "Spay Neuter Day ", and the Board of County Commissioners calls upon the
people of the County to observe the day by having their own cats or dogs spayed or
neutered or by sponsoring the spaying or neutering of another person's cat or dog.
THIS THE 18th OF FEBRUARY, 2014.
Barry Jacobs, Chair
Orange County Board Of Commissioners
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