Saturday, May 10, 2008

Dallas Animal Ordinances

Today my mom launched her new website, http://www.spayandneuterdallas.com/. In June, the Dallas City Council will vote on a new set of animal ordinances.

One of the proposals causing the most controversy centers around mandatory spay/neuter legislation (you can read the entire ordinance on the Ordinance Summary page of the website). Even though this plan contains numerous exemptions, it has become the center of a very vigorous debate. Simply stated, the proposal will require owners to spay or neuter their pets (dogs, cats) unless they pay a yearly breeder fee.

Opponents argue that this interferes with their "rights" as pet owners. What they leave out of the discussion is that last year Dallas Animal Services euthanized almost 30,000 animals. The number rises to nearly 200,000 when you look at totals for shelters city wide. 25% of the animals euthanized each year are purebred.

Here's the bottom line: this ordinance is not about "rights", it's about life and death. Every three minutes a dog or cat is killed in Dallas. It is cruel to bring one more litter, even a purebred litter, into the world as long as we are killing so many healthy animals on a daily basis.

If you want to show your support for responsible pet ownership, please go to the website, http://www.spayandneuterdallas.com/ and sign her petition.

The animals of Dallas thank you!

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