ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602230012
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-5 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: YOUR PART OF TOWN
SOURCE: SANDRA TUCKER-MAXWELL SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Seventy-three pets - cats and dogs - in Salem will be spayed or neutered Tuesday as part of the Salem Animal Shelter's effort to help prevent pet overpopulation.
Shelter staff are working with several veterinary hospitals to have the animals treated during Spay/Neuter Day. Pet owners were encouraged to register for the event in January.
The project started in 1995 after Linda Albert, a shelter worker, read about the program in Animal Guardian, a publication put out by the Doris Day Animal League. In 1995, 71 Salem residents registered their pets.
Officers at the shelter - Sgt. Bill Bandy, K.S. Jones, Chris Dillman and Albert - schedule the free surgery for pets 6 months of age and older with the participating veterinary hospitals.
Salem residents donated $3,387 to help offset the cost of Spay/Neuter Day. School children contributed $126.92 of that.
"We have a God-given duty to make life better for the animals," said Albert.
"We need to find ways to stop [pet overpopulation], and the spay/neuter day is a start."
The officers spend 75 percent of their regular working time patrolling and looking for animals. "We get about 100 complaints regarding animal ordinance violations a month, and approximately a thousand calls for services, such as checking out how an animal is being treated," said Bandy. Cruelty to animals is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
"I hate to see animals euthanized, but when you can't find enough homes, and there is population overgrowth, it has to be done," said Norma King, a shelter manager. Euthanization is down compared to last year, she said, but then so is the number of cats and kittens brought to the shelter.
In 1995, 189 cats and kittens were put down, as compared to 265 in 1994. Licensing of dogs has resulted in fewer dogs being put to sleep at the shelter, but there is no ordinance against roaming cats.
So, "perhaps more cat owners are taking it upon themselves to watch their pets," said Albert.
Passionate in her quest to help pet owners become responsible, Albert said, "You feed it; you fix it - do the right thing."
Preventing pet overpopulation and the unnecessary deaths of animals in shelters is her goal. She said indiscriminate breeding of a dog or cat can start the vicious cycle of more and more animals in shelters and more and more euthanasia. "Spaying them, neutering them, makes a whole lot more sense than seeing them as road-kill, or watching as a lethal amount of drugs are injected."
Betty Lilly registered to have her miniature Doberman Pinscher spayed. "I let her have one litter and gave away all the puppies. But, I found out one of the puppies was being mistreated, so I requested that the animal shelter pick it up."
Albert said the case is "a classic example of why I advocate surgical procedures. You might get lucky and get all of a litter adopted to good homes - or maybe not."
"If we can get to them early, it helps make them more responsible pet owners."
Tuesday's Spay/Neuter Day will spare lives, save taxpayer dollars and perform a humane and valuable service. Albert said, "We used to be paid to put animals down. Now we're being paid to help control the pet population. This way is a lot better."
Pets can be adopted from the shelter. Call 375-3038 for more information.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB