Preliminary Assessment of the Effects of Recent Spay/Neuter Legislation in Buncombe County, NC

It is estimated that over 4 million companion animals are euthanized every year in the United States. Despite proactive spay/neuter and education programs and strict animal control ordinances,animal shelters and humane groups continue to euthanize thousands of unwanted animals each year. In an effort to curb this endemic problem, city and county government agencies have imposed intact animal fees (a larger registration fee for intact animals versus a much smaller registration fee for altered animals), which are intended to reduce the euthanasia of un-owned and unwanted dogs and cats in shelters nationwide. Another option for county governments is legislation mandating spaying and neutering of pets. This study evaluated the efficacy of spay/neuter legislation by examining the annual statistics of animal shelters and humane alliancesin one county in North Carolina where a strict spay/neuter law was recently enacted in February 2004. Data on euthanasia and spay/neuter rates,population dynamics, as well as information on animal control enforcement methods and currentspay/neuter programs were collected and analyzed, both before and after the law, in an effort to document the impact of such legislation. While a dramatic shift in euthanasia rates was not seen, there is evidence that the policy is having the intended impact.