The economic downturn has certainly caused a great deal of hardship across the board, any state governments are not the least affected. New York has run out of funding for its spay-neuter voucher program and sent a letter explaining the situation; some shelters in the area are seeking new revenue sources to aid with their own programmes and involve the community.
The letter explains that the fund balance for the animal population control program was projected to drop to zero this month. As a result, the department has stopped issuing new vouchers.
The vouchers, for either $20 or $30, are available to owners who adopt pets from shelters and meet financial guidelines. The owners can use the vouchers to pay for a low-cost spay or neuter procedure for their new pets.
According to the letter, there are 8,869 vouchers outstanding throughout the state. They expire Oct. 1.
Once those vouchers have been paid, the state will begin to reinstate the program in counties that have surplus vouchers.
In counties without surplus vouchers, New York will reinstate the program once enough money accumulates from funding sources. Those sources include the $3 surcharge on dog licenses for dogs that are not spayed or neutered; unclaimed deposits left with shelters under the state Neuter Law; $20 of the $25 annual charge for the custom “Love Your Pet” license plate; and private donations.
Kiggins praised the spay and neuter effort, saying it helped in the war against pet overpopulation and contributed to happier and healthier pets.
Link, via LoHud.com
I’m all for spaying and neutering every companion animal. But, I have to wonder, would everyone think this is such a good idea if it were dogs? Snakes? Pot-bellied pigs? Cats do more than overpopulate. They can and DO attack people. I met a woman at the animal ER who was a concert pianist. I say “was” because she lost three fingers on her right hand when she tried to use a broom to shoo a cat out of her garage. The cat was hurt, so she trapped it in a box with tuna and brought it in, even though she would lose three fingers that night when she sought medical attention for herself.