Maybe Boks was right?
After a tongue lashing for city council members this week, Department of Animal Services General Manager Ed Boks relented and reinstated the $70 coupon for low-income households to get their pet spayed or neutered. Boks had temporarily suspended the coupon program in order to save $150,000 - part of the citywide spending cuts needed to balance the budget. Now, Animal Services will again offer the $70 coupon, which means households that earn under $30,300 can have their cat or dog altered for free. The department did not revive the $30 coupon that was available to any Angeleno.
Pretty much everybody chastised Boks for suspending this program (including the DN editorial page), but maybe Boks was right. In tough budget times, should L.A. taxpayers really be picking up the tab for one of the essential duties of pet ownership? We don't subsidize dog kibble or kitty litter. If someone can't afford to spay or neuter their pet, will they be able to afford the cost of pet ownership -- estimated at $300 a year for a small dog and $500 a year for a cat (kitty litter is apparently quite expensive)?
Yes, the offspring of unaltered pets end up in city shelters and taxpayers end up paying for them there. But I suspect that people who are conscientious enough to call the city and get a coupon are also conscientious enough to have their pets spayed or neutered, with or without a coupon. Are those folks really the pet owners responsible for the puppies and kittens in animal shelters?
What do you think? Our question of the week asks whether pet neutering is worth subsidizing. You can respond at opinionated@dailynews.com. We'll print as many responses as we can in Sunday's Opinionated section.
You're kidding right? Did you bother to collect any facts before you wrote this? If you attended the City Council meeting, or even watched the tape, you'd have learned this:
Boks admitted it costs about $375 to house feed and then kill an unwanted animal. Multiply that by the 17,000 animals Boks admitted to killing last year. If one animal on a $70 coupon prevents the birth of 6 others, you've saved $2250 by spaying the mother (for one litter) and countless animals by neutering the sire.
And yes, we do subsidize kibble and cat litter. We pay for food and housing for every animal dumped at the shelter. The idea is to drastically reduce the overall pet population and stop the senseless killing. From reading your post, one can only come away with the idea that your solution is to kill more animals rather than subsidize compliance with a law that this department does not have the funds or will to enforce.
Check yourself,Kerry. You missed the truth.