LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave unanimous approval to a new Animal Care and Control program that aims to tackle the high rate of euthanasia for pit bulls.
Animal Care and Control Director Bill Davidson took to the board the proposal to offer reduced-cost spay/neuter services and a free vaccination for pit bulls specifically.
He said it will be open to all county residents, and will not be contingent on income.
Davidson and the Animal Control Advisory Board came up with the proposal in order to reduce the high pit bull euthanasia rate. Over the last three years pit bulls have made up 40 percent of the dogs the agency has put down.
Under the program, Animal Care and Control will offer the spay/neuter services two days a month – one day, male dogs would be neutered at a cost of $50 per dog, with spaying of females priced at $70 each to happen on the second day, Davidson explained.
The program aims to attract people who might not otherwise choose to have their dogs altered and vaccinated, he said.
Davidson estimated that Animal Care and Control could spay or neuter 250 pit bulls annually under the program, and proposed to continue it until the euthanasia rate for pit bulls over a two-year period drops to a level equal to, or less than, the next most commonly euthanized breed.
He said the one-time free annual DHLPP vaccine to be offered to the dogs was an idea he came up with separately and didn't discuss with the advisory board. At $3 per dog for the vaccine, he estimated the shots would cost his department $750 a year.
“There is a significant amount of support for this program,” Davidson told the board.
Davidson has been successful at getting grants from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which this year is accepting grant proposals by invitation only, he said.
He said he spoke to his former grant officer who was very supportive of his pit bull program proposal, and subsequently extended to him an application to apply to SPCA for a grant.
Davidson also is pursuing a grant of up to $7,500 from the California Department of Food and Agriculture to defray the program's costs.
Plus, Karen Schaver, founder of the nonprofit animal rescue group Lake County Animal Services, has pledged up to $1,000 to apply to the program to help keep the prices down, he said.
Davidson also asked for the board to approve the Adoption Amnesty Program for 2014.
The Board of Supervisors approved a policy in February 2012 that allowed for up to four weeklong adoption events each year in which the county's portion of the adoption fees would be waived.
“This program has been successful,” and allowed many animals to be adopted that may otherwise have been euthanized, Davidson said.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he appreciated Schaver's willingness to help support the spay/neuter program financially.
“She's definitely putting her money where her mouth is in this case, as she usually does,” he said.
Brown also lauded Davidson for consistently bringing to the board innovative ways to respond to the county's animal-related problems, adding that Animal Care and Control and its advisory board have modeled how agencies and such boards can work together.
No public input was offered, and Brown moved to approve the spay/neuter program and the amnesty program, with Supervisor Jim Comstock seconding and the board voting 5-0.
With the program now given the go-ahead, Davidson said that Animal Care and Control can immediately start scheduling anyone who owns a pit bull to bring in their animals for the low-cost surgery and vaccinations.
He said on Wednesday that Animal Care and Control already was getting calls to sign up for the services.
Davidson said that the ASPCA grant he's seeking is for $10,000, and would specifically help the new pit bull spay/neuter program.
If he receives the grant, he expects to offer 100 of the surgeries for free.
Lake County Animal Care and Control can be reached at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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