PHOENIX — Watch out, Fido and Fluffy.
If you find yourself in a shelter without a license or up-to-date shots, you may go home unexpectedly spayed or neutered.
A state law taking effect Sept. 30 allows shelters to sterilize and implant microchips on impounded dogs and cats before they are released to owners, provided they first hold the animals for three days and make reasonable efforts to locate the owners.
Owners are responsible for the cost of the sterilization and microchips. Those who retrieve their animals before those procedures are done will have the option of paying $50 on top of any other fees to have them released without sterilization or microchips.
The goal of the measure, sponsored by Rep. Steve Court, R-Mesa, is to reduce the number of unwanted animals.
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"Every animal that is spayed or neutered is tens of animals less on the street," said Aprille Hollis, spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Center, which pushed for the change.
The law also requires shelters to hold licensed animals for at least five days before they are put up for adoption; current law requires shelters to hold any animal for at least three days.
Hollis said one reason for the law is stray dogs are likely to return to the streets after owners claim them.
"Dogs are escape artists; if they find a way out, they will try again," she said.
Kimberly Searles, spokeswoman for the Arizona Humane Society, said the law helps address animal overpopulation and ultimately will help reduce the burden on shelters and the number of euthanized dogs and cats. Her organization saw abandonment calls double from 2007 to 2008.
"There are record amounts of animals being abandoned," she said. "Abandonment is the No. 1 cruelty call."
But Maria Felix, veterinary technician at the Santa Cruz Humane Society in Nogales, said she didn't know how much of an effect the law would have there because owners rarely come to claim dogs or cats.
"It happens twice a year, and if it happens, and if we have spayed or neutered the pet, owners are OK with it," Felix said in a phone interview.
According to the Humane Society of the United States, about 30 percent of impounded dogs nationally are reclaimed by owners; for cats, the estimate is 2 percent to 5 percent. A cat can have up to 24 kittens in a year, and a dog can have up to 20 pups in a year, the group said.
The bill also applies to unvaccinated dogs impounded for biting people, adding an exemption for situations in which the bite occurs at the owner's home and involves a resident of that home.
Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said he voted against the bill because of that provision, saying sterilization and microchips have nothing to do with dog bites or rabies. He called the language of that section poorly written and nonsensical.
"As is the case with many laws, they sound good with the title and general summary, but when you read the text of the law to see what it says, it's fatally flawed in the way it's written," he said.
"Every animal that is spayed or neutered is tens of animals less on the street."
Aprille Hollis
Spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Center
