SENATE MEMORIAL 36

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Michael S. Sanchez

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE ANIMAL SHELTERING BOARD TO CONDUCT A STUDY ON THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A FUND TO LOWER THE COST OF SPAYING AND NEUTERING CATS AND DOGS.

     WHEREAS, the impact of homeless pets on New Mexico is staggering and affects the safety and health of the public; and

     WHEREAS, unspayed cats can give birth to eighteen kittens a year, and unspayed dogs can give birth to twenty-two puppies a year; and

     WHEREAS, the spaying and neutering of cats and dogs reduces the number of homeless pets as well as the number of reproductive cancers; and

     WHEREAS, many New Mexicans cannot afford to spay or neuter their pets due to the high cost of the procedure, and because low-cost spay and neuter programs have been cut from budgets, pet overpopulation has become rampant; and

     WHEREAS, destroying ten million to twenty million cats and dogs a year costs two billion dollars ($2,000,000,000) annually; and

     WHEREAS, the increase in homeless pets has increased animal cruelty cases, costing law enforcement time, money and personnel; and

     WHEREAS, a spay and neuter fund, created from a surcharge of twenty dollars ($20.00) added to fines for animal cruelty or animal ordinance violations or from a check-off on state income tax forms or driver's license renewal forms, would decrease the number of homeless pets, thereby reducing the public health and safety hazard;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the animal sheltering board be requested to conduct a study to establish the feasibility of creating a fund to specifically aid low-income households in sterilizing, vaccinating and spaying or neutering their pets and to educate the public on the importance of spaying and neutering; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the animal sheltering board for further distribution.

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