City considers bylaw to limit number of pets- Cape Town

July 10, 2008

City considers bylaw to limit number of petsCompulsory sterilisation on cards

July 09, 2008 Edition 1

Maureen Marud

The City of Cape Town is drafting a bylaw for domestic animals that could eventually include compulsory sterilisation of all dogs and cats.

Also up for discussion in a public participation process that ends in October is the prevention of domestic pet breeding by anyone not registered with the Kennel Union of South Africa.

Welcomed by many animal protection and rescue organisations overwhelmed by vast numbers of unwanted pets, the draft provisions cover several animal control measures, including a proposal to limit to two the number of pets in a household, and for mandatory identity tags for dogs and cats.

Councillor JP Smith, head of the city's safety and security portfolio committee, said the new bylaw was a consolidation of 10 existing bylaws governing domestic animals, mainly dogs and cats. He said the existing provisions were mostly "weak" around the issue of compulsory sterilisation of pets.

"The first draft, which is now ready, has been in preparation for about nine or 10 months. We do not want to rush this. The deadline for public comment is the end of October."

Although the existing bylaws permitted limited forms of sterilisation, the first draft of the new bylaw "has given us greater powers to go on to properties and forcibly sterilise animals", said Smith.

"Between the SPCA and the city's pound, we put to death a disturbingly large number of unwanted animals. I don't want to be associated with any administration that does this."

Several of the provisions were aimed at reducing the flow of unwanted animals to the pound.

"One of the single most important things is that when any animal is lost or separated from the owner or property we must know how to get it back to where it came from.

"The new bylaw requires a compulsory ID tag so that we know who that animal belongs to and we don't engage in unnecessary destruction of animals. The aim is to re-home the animal whenever possible.

"The easiest thing of all would be that nobody would have a right to keep an animal for breeding unless it is registered," said Smith, but the matter was still up for discussion during the public participation process. Various animal care organisations are in favour of stricter breeding controls.

"Such measures would help to cut down the large numbers of unwanted and abused animals all societies deal with daily," said June Woodman of the Animal Welfare Society of SA.

Cicely Bloomberg of Adopt-a-Pet in Milnerton called for societies to "speak with one voice" on sterilisation.

"If we reach a zero-population growth level for animals, there will be no need to put them down in vast quantities, but we have to work together.

"The tragedy is that anybody can breed with their dogs and cats and give litters away to anybody. Often the animals end up in the worst places, like being used for pitbull fighting. It is a nightmare to us."

Colette Teale of the Karoo Animal Protection Society in Barrydale said: "Compulsory sterilisation is one of my dreams. In the first year of our existence I homed three dogs. Now I am homing something like 200 dogs a year, because sterilisation is not compulsory."

Karen de Klerk, head of fundraising and public relations for the Animal Rescue Organisation, said: "Thousands of animals are euthanised every year, which is why so much emphasis is placed on sterilisation."

De Klerk called for stricter governance of pet breeders, saying that even dogs from registered breeders were vulnerable. "Many of these dogs do not stay in the good homes they are placed in."