LA ends free pet sterilization program

[March 14, 2009]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Budget cutbacks in Los Angeles have ended a program that offered free or discounted pet spaying and neutering under one of the nation's toughest programs for pet sterilizations.

The halt to the subsidized surgeries for dogs and cats comes just months after the law requiring pet sterilization was enacted.

Animal Services general manager Ed Boks said he had to end the subsidy program this past week after the city council cut his department's budget by $300,000.

The subsidies were offered under an ordinance that requires most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are four months old.

The law was aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating the thousands of euthanizations conducted in the city's animal shelters every year.

---

Information from (Los Angeles) Daily News: http://www.dailynews.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.