Los Angeles MSN -- year 3 -- when can we expect it to start working?

In 2008, the city of Los Angeles passed a new law mandating that all dogs and cats had to be spayed or neutered.

Advocates of the law said that by forcing spay/neuter, we would decrease the number of unintentional litters, and thus, cause fewer dogs and cats to enter the shelter.  Three years into the ordinance, and intake numbers continue to increase.

The unfortunate part of Mandatory Spay/Neuter (MSN) laws is that they end up targeting the people with the lowest incomes. The #1 reason people say they do not alter their dog is because of the cost of the proceedure. The vast majority of owned cats are already altered (90% of the ones in households making $35,000+) but the ones that  aren't are owned by those with low incomes (only 51% of cats in HHs making less than $35,000 are altered).  And MSN cannot be met for community cats that have no owners.

Thus, when laws like MSN get passed, they almost always end up targeting low-income pet owners - -who we should be out trying to HELP comply, vs targeting them with hefty fines they cannot pay.

The end result of MSN is more animals get impounded into the shelter, and thus, more end up killed.

And the numbers in Los Angeles continue to reflect this.  This is a breakdown of the number of DOGS that were impounded and killed in the Los Angeles City Shelter over the past decade (older numbers come from Shelter Trak:

2001 Intake: 40,442   Euthanized: 22,675

2002 Intake: 34,295   Euthanized: 17,335 (-24%)

2003 Intake: 30,605   Euthanized: 12,821 (-62%)

2004 Intake: 26,949    Euthanized: 9,985  (-22%)

2005 Intake: 25, 740   Euthanized: 8,127 (-19%)

2006 Intake: 24,999     Euthanized: 6,949 (-15%)

2007 Intake: 25,792    Euthanized: 6,051 (-13%)

In 2008, the mandatory spay/neuter ordinance was passed:

2008 Intake: 30,813     Euthanized: 7,518 (+24%)

2009 Intake 31,869   Euthanized: 7,624  (+1.5%)

2010 Intake : 33,396  Euthanized: 8,210 (+7.7%)

The numbers for Cats have also not improved:

2006 Euthanized: 12,277

2007 Euthanized: 8,960 (MSN begins after this year)

2008 Euthanized: 12,099

2009 Euthanized: 11,938

2010 Euthanized 12,435

There are some who are still clinging to the changes as being just because of the economy (and I admit there may be some economic factors involved) but Los Angeles is far from an isolated case in their failures with MSN. It is obvious failings like this, where  the city went from consistently declining impound and euthanasia numbers prior to the ordinance taking effect and immediately began seeing inclines in both categories that have virtuatlly all animal welfare organizations speaking out against mandatory spay/neuter laws -- including the AVMA, ASPCA, Best Friends, American Humane , Ally Cat Allies and the No Kill Advocacy Center.

So while there is a lot of consensus that targeted, voluntary, low cost spay/neuter programs are effective in gaining spay/neuter compliance - -and a large trackrecord of success, However, taking the next step to mandating the law is only a recipe to increase impounds, and thus, shelter killing.  Los Angeles is yet another example of the ongoing failure of these laws.

For more reading:

There is no need to reinvent the wheel with mandatory spay/neuter - KC Dog Blog

The Dark Side of Mandatory Laws - No Kill Advocacy Center

Why we join the national consensus against mandatory spay/neuter laws - Fix Austin

Comments

[YesBiscuit!]

In answer to your question, please put me down for "NEXT year it going to be the one!"

In fact feel free to recycle that as my answer every year in future.

[MichelleD]

My two quotes for Edith's spay (40lb) where $240 and $320.

[kristina]

my state offers low cost s/n, i payed 200 for all five of my cats, not a bad price if you ask me!

[PAMM]

"my state" - meaning everyone else's tax dollars had to subsidize your cats surgeries.

[d.booth]

Perhaps if you cant afford to spay neuter then you cant afford the vet bills to keep your pet flea, tick, heartworm free as well as regular vet visits. Perhaps you shouldnt get a pet. Last year I paid for 82 cats to get spayed/neutered - I dont even own a cat. I also spay/neuter my neighbors dogs as well as the six that someone dropped off at my house. Why? Im tired of seeing all the sick cats and discarded pups.

[EA]

My male cat here in Baltimore was only $19 including exam and overnight stay to get neutered. There are plenty of low cost options but they just take some research... same hospital female dogs start at $65 and males $55. This is a private vet who wants dogs S/N that is less then most "low-cost" options.... but most sadly won't do the legwork.

[Brent]

EA -- that is great that there is a vet who is stepping up there. Most cities do have vets and clinics that offer this service. The key is for the animal welfare community to do the legwork to let people know that these services are available. Also, being sure there is the capacity to handle the demand is important.

[Brent]

d. booth,

It seems like a common thing for people to claim that if people can't afford spay/neuter then they can't afford pets.

But that attitude leads to dead animals.

Let's face it, most shelters already have a ton of animals in them...so denying animals homes, or pulling them out of homes, is going to make that problem worse, not better. If people are taking care of the animals, then that is much better than what will happen in the majority of the shelters in this country.

And then there's the reality that we, the animal welfare community, want them to spay/neuter not for the health of the animal, or for the good of the owner, but for OUR benefit.

So why then shouldn't we subsidize this if it is to help us?

It seems like many want to decide that poor people shouldn't own pets....but this self-righteousness only leads to dead animals.

[kmk]

Well, this mandatory speutering might not work right away, and some dogs and cats are going to die, but it will be for the "Greater Good" and in a couple of years it's going to work - the shelter will be empty, and everyone is REALLY going to like it!

Oh...it's been three years?

Still not working?

The kill numbers are STILL going up?

Oopsie.

Dang it, WHEN are we going to see good results from the criminalization of non-criminal behavior? Oh, what the heck if it doesn't work - the control factor is just too much fun! It's way fun to take pets from defenseless poor people with no resources and no attorney on speed-dial. It gives Animal Control such a sense of power.

I am all in favor of non-profits helping pet owners with speutering and basic vet care - and the government needs to butt out. Maybe that will give them more time to fix the streets and worry about crime.

I speuter my pets for MY benefit. If the pets benefit from it, that's a nice side effect, but I do it for my convenience. But if the government starts telling me I have to do speuter my pet, every last one of them will be left intact in the future.

[PAMM - People Against Murdering Mutts]

Pets are dying in the shelters because of self-righteous jerks like d booth. Exactly WHAT problem do you solve by saying "people that can't afford s/n shouldn't have pets"? Do you want poor people to just kill their pets so they don't have them anymore? Do you think those animals DESERVE to die because they're not altered? That's what you're saying...and people like you, that would rather see an animal dead, and yet claim to care about animals, makes me sick.

[Cathie Turner]

I think what is interesting is how much the Los Angeles vets increased their S/N charges after the law was passed - something even Los Angeles Animal Services decries.