Dec 2007 City Ordinance – Mandatory to Sterilize Stray Cats
If you are feeding any outside cats you must get them sterilized according to the ordinance
passed in December by the City of Houston. According to BARC, about 250,000 stray cats live in
the city. A female cat can start reproducing at four months; they have 3-4 kittens in each litter and
can have three litters each year. Do the math, in a matter of months the numbers can get out of
control.
Unwanted cat litters create the feral colonies of cats. Feral cats are simply unwanted, abandoned,
domesticated house cats once owned by human beings. Some people assume if they move off
their pets will survive. This is not true; many die ugly deaths from starvation, disease, abuse, and
dog attacks. Other people just don’t get around to spaying/neutering their pets and allow them to
roam outside, no doubt breeding.
Shelters spend $50 million dollars (mostly your tax dollars) each year to euthanize 15 million dogs
and cats. All because people don’t spay and neuter their pets. Every single spay/neuter helps
stamp out this problem. In fact, city councilman, Michael Berry says we can reduce the stray cat
population by several hundred thousand in just a few years using the trap, neuter, release
program. Sean Hawkins, founder of Saving Animals Across Borders, is dedicated to making
Houston a “no kill” city and has opened several low-cost spay/neuter clinics around town,
including the new clinic at BARC. Please check out the “Fix Houston” campaign at www.
savingsanimals.org. We can be a “no kill” city but the key is spay/neuter.
It is your responsibility to have your pets spayed/neutered. Besides helping the overpopulation
problem it also makes your pets healthier. If you are feeding an “outside cat” then it is your
responsibility and now it is the law to get it spayed/neutered.
Stop the neglect and abuse – please spay/neuter