Town News

Bill aims to reduce animal population

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Bob Barker always reminded viewers of “The Price is Right” to help control the animal population by having their pets spayed or neutered. The Town of Hempstead is expected to soon adopt that policy.

Legislation proposed by the town would require that all cats and dogs that come to its animal shelter in Wantagh be spayed or neutered. A public hearing before the town board is scheduled for January.

Supervisor Kate Murray announced the proposal last week, which would be modeled after a law already in place in New York City. “The overarching desire is to curtail the overpopulation of stray and shelter animals,” Murray said.

Currently, all dogs and cats that are adopted are spayed or neutered. The legislation would expand the shelter’s authority to fix any animal that is picked up as a stray, even if it is a lost pet that is eventually returned to a family. When an animal’s owners are identified, they have five days to come to the shelter, on Beltagh Avenue, and reclaim their pet. During that time, the animal would be spayed or neutered.

The purpose of the law would be to ensure that no animals leaving the shelter would be able to reproduce, and to reduce the number of homeless cats and dogs.

Murray cited a statistic from the North Shore Animal League America’s Spay USA program, which states than a single female dog and its offspring can ultimately produce 67,000 puppies in six years. “Think about that for the animal shelter populations,” Murray said. “They’re stunning numbers.”

According to Spay USA, a sterilized animal is likely to live longer and healthier, and make a better-behaved pet. Several local rescue groups, including Almost Home Animal Rescue & Adoption, Long Island Bulldog Rescue and Fur Babies Rescue and Referral, support the legislation.

An exception would be made for show or service dogs, as long as proper documentation is produced.

Diane Madden, a critic of the animal shelter, said this is legislation she and her fellow advocates have sought. “This is one of the programs we have been urging them to implement for quite some time,” she said. “We have an overpopulation of animals, and this is a humane way to address that.”

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