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Liberty County Commissioners heard an impassioned plea from Liberty Humane Shelter President Sandra Frye on Tuesday night, who asked them to consider requiring pet owners to microchip their furry family members. Without providing additional comment, board members agreed to review and discuss the issue among themselves.
“I hope we can get it passed, 100 percent,” Frye said. “I think we need some legal way to identify animals, and [microchipping] has proven to be the best method to date of identifying animals.”
Microchips allow owner information to be easily retrieved, so pets don’t have to stay in the shelter or the animal control facility longer than necessary. Animals who are collected as strays must stay in the county facility for a minimum of five days, and 10 days or more if they have a chip in order to make sure the owners can be tracked down. From there, if a pet hasn’t been claimed, the humane shelter will evaluate the pet to see if it can be adopted out.
Frye acknowledged the potential backlash and said she knows many pet owners don’t want to be told how to act as pet owners or be told they have to pay fees to comply with county or city rules regarding pets.
“Most pet owners are responsible, but unfortunately we’d have to target the ones who aren’t responsible,” she said. “I can’t think anyone’s going to like the fact that we’d be mandated to do something, but we already have mandates. A lot of people don’t realize there’s an ordinance and a cost for registering your pet.”
In Liberty County, registration for unaltered animals costs $40 and for altered animals costs $20.
Frye stressed the importance of spaying and neutering pets to help limit the growing number of animals that end up in the shelter and in Liberty County Animal Control’s facility. She asked the commission to look at chipping and alteration as separate issues, a slight change from her 2009 request to make alterations mandatory for most pet owners.
Rather than asking for an ordinance that mandates spaying and neutering, Frye suggested providing more incentives for pet owners to alter cats and dogs. The expense of alterations can be a deterrent for some owners, but Frye said discounted services and vouchers for discounted services can be accessed throughout the county.
While the commissioners mull over the issue, Frye and others continue to speak to the public through schools and churches about spaying, neutering and microchipping pets. Additionally, “we’re trying to set up some public meetings to discuss the issue” of the ordinance, she said. “I don’t want anyone to feel like responsible pet owners are being punished, but I don’t know any other way to solve this.”
Feb. 5, 2010 10:42a.m. EST
Shelter volunteers wants microchips required
Staff Report
Coastal Courier
Liberty County Commissioners heard an impassioned plea from Liberty Humane Shelter President Sandra Frye on Tuesday night, who asked them to consider requiring pet owners to microchip their furry family members. Without providing additional comment, board members agreed to review and discuss the issue among themselves.
“I hope we can get it passed, 100 percent,” Frye said. “I think we need some legal way to identify animals, and [microchipping] has proven to be the best method to date of identifying animals.”
Microchips allow owner information to be easily retrieved, so pets don’t have to stay in the shelter or the animal control facility longer than necessary. Animals who are collected as strays must stay in the county facility for a minimum of five days, and 10 days or more if they have a chip in order to make sure the owners can be tracked down. From there, if a pet hasn’t been claimed, the humane shelter will evaluate the pet to see if it can be adopted out.
Frye acknowledged the potential backlash and said she knows many pet owners don’t want to be told how to act as pet owners or be told they have to pay fees to comply with county or city rules regarding pets.
“Most pet owners are responsible, but unfortunately we’d have to target the ones who aren’t responsible,” she said. “I can’t think anyone’s going to like the fact that we’d be mandated to do something, but we already have mandates. A lot of people don’t realize there’s an ordinance and a cost for registering your pet.”
In Liberty County, registration for unaltered animals costs $40 and for altered animals costs $20.
Frye stressed the importance of spaying and neutering pets to help limit the growing number of animals that end up in the shelter and in Liberty County Animal Control’s facility. She asked the commission to look at chipping and alteration as separate issues, a slight change from her 2009 request to make alterations mandatory for most pet owners.
Rather than asking for an ordinance that mandates spaying and neutering, Frye suggested providing more incentives for pet owners to alter cats and dogs. The expense of alterations can be a deterrent for some owners, but Frye said discounted services and vouchers for discounted services can be accessed throughout the county.
While the commissioners mull over the issue, Frye and others continue to speak to the public through schools and churches about spaying, neutering and microchipping pets. Additionally, “we’re trying to set up some public meetings to discuss the issue” of the ordinance, she said. “I don’t want anyone to feel like responsible pet owners are being punished, but I don’t know any other way to solve this.”
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