THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407210008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Norfolk City Council has approved an ordinance that would require the licensing of cats in the city. Although many citizens are resistant to the idea of animal licensing and consider it to be a burdensome task, a licensing program is the foundation of any animal-control ordinance.
Effective licensing programs require animals to wear license tags at all times. Lost animals can more easily be returned to their owners if they are wearing a collar with identification tags. Our experience at the Norfolk SPCA proves this to be true. Presently, cats generally do not wear identification tags, while dogs, which are now required to be licensed, are more likely to have identification tags. During 1993, from the several thousand lost cats and dogs that turned up at the Norfolk SPCA, only 75 cats were reunited with their owners while 630 dogs returned to their homes.
Proof of rabies vaccination is required to purchase an animal license. Rabies is a frightening as well as deadly disease, and cases of rabies have been reported in the surrounding cities. Regular vaccination for this disease protects your pet as well as your family from the rabies virus.
Licensing helps promote spaying and neutering of pets when higher license fees are charged for unsterilized animals. The burden of caring for and, unfortunately, euthanizing many beautiful pets falls upon SPCAs, animal shelters and animal-control agencies. Programs that encourage spaying and neutering can reduce the pet-overpopulation problem.
Cats are not independent, self-sufficient animals. They have been domesticated by people, and people must assume responsibility for their welfare. In a perfect world, all pets would have responsible, caring owners. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. Pet licensing is one way of encouraging more responsible pet ownership.
KATHRYN P. KING
First vice president
Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals
Norfolk, July 14, 1994 by CNB