Spay/neuter service free to low-income dog owners
Franklin County commissioners approved a free spay/ neuter program on Tuesday for eligible low-income residents that could prevent the euthanasia of about 1,000 unwanted or stray dogs per year — and it will cost taxpayers nothing.
“Our pets give us unconditional love,” Deb Finelli, assistant director at the Franklin County Dog Shelter & Adoption Center, told commissioners. “This is our way of paying them back.”
Fewer fertile dogs means fewer unwanted or stray dogs that could wind up in the shelter. The dog shelter doesn’t refuse dogs, taking in more than 10,000 last year. Nearly 8,500 were adopted, rescued or reclaimed. The shelter euthanized about 1,600 of the stray and unwanted dogs because they weren’t adopted, owners requested euthanasia, or for aggressive behavior or medical reasons — down from more than 5,000 in 2010.
Cost, Finelli said, is the main reason people don’t have their dogs sterilized. Of the 10,000 dogs that the shelter took in last year, 85.6 percent weren’t spayed or neutered. That results in more dogs roaming the streets or being sent to the shelter.
Fernelli noted that one unspayed female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in six years. That figure is based on the fact that one fertile dog can produce an average of two litters in one year with up to a total 20 puppies.
The new spay/neuter program will be for low-income dog owners. The program will be free to those receiving public assistance or with
incomes at or below 150 percent of poverty level. For a family of four, that’s $36,450 per year. The program will be funded through the shelter’s spay/neuter donation fund that the shelter has been working on for the past several years.
“Studies have shown that low-income households relinquish a disproportionate number of pets to shelter,” Finelli said. “As a result, a higher proportion of pets from impoverished communities are entering shelters, and data suggest that these pets may be at significantly higher risk for euthanasia.”
The first year of the program is expected to cost $160,000. That will be paid by funds donated to the dog shelter. That fund also will continue to fund the spay/ neuter program going forward. The goal is to reduce
the number of euthanizations and unsterilized dogs, prevent dog bites and improve public and canine safety.
In addition to spaying or neutering dogs, the program — called “Snyp-It” — will pay to give the dogs a medical checkup, any needed vaccinations and to implant a microchip so the dog can be found it it’s lost.
Because one-fourth of the dogs that the shelter takes in are pit bulls or pit-bull mixes, the program initially will focus on those breeds.
To qualify, Franklin County dog owners must be 18 or older. To make an appointment or for more information, email spayneuter@franklincountyohio. gov or call the shelter at 614-525-5454.