Mandatory Dog Microchip, Spay/Neuter Rules Approved

By Scott F Davis

Posted: December 12, 2009 at 3:58 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — Pets owners in rural areas of Washington County face new animal control regulations designed to reduce stray dogs, following the Quorum Court’s swift action Thursday.

Residents will be required to pay for inserting a microchip if their dog is picked up outside of a city without a collar identifying the owner. Mandatory spaying or neutering at the owner’s expense will also be required for repeat offenders.

Microchips are tiny transponders, about the size of a grain of rice, that use radio frequency waves to transmit information. They’re implanted just under the pet’s skin, usually right between the shoulder blades.

The Quorum Court unanimously approved the ordinance — recommended by the Animal Concern’s Committee — on all three readings Thursday. Only one person spoke against the proposal.

County resident Tim Smith urged the Quorum Court not to rush through the ordinance by passing it on the first night they reviewed it. He said studies have concluded microchips can cause higher than normal rates of cancer in animals.

Justice of the Peace Candy Clark, D-Fayetteville, said she believes the research in those studies is flawed, based on other studies. She provided two letters from local veterinarians who said microchips for pets are safe.

She said the new rules will save money by decreasing the number of pets picked up in rural areas that end up at the Fayetteville Animal Shelter, which houses the animals collected by county officers.

The county paid Fayetteville nearly $88,000 in 2008 and has already paid more than $85,000 this year to house strays, according to Cheryl Bolinger, the county comptroller.

She said chips are effective because they can’t get tangled up or come off like collars. Implanting chips is safe and being done all across the county, she said.

The chips will help keep pets out of the shelter and get them back home, she said.

“It’s a ticket home for your animal,” said Clark.

Owners are not being required to spay or neuter their dogs unless the dogs are running loose without identification, Clark explained. The pets that aren’t spayed or neutered are the ones most likely to stray far from home, she said.

“When animals are in heat, they wander,” she said. “If neutered, (male dogs) are more happy to stay home and bark at intruders.”

Justices of the peace also approved a second ordinance limiting at 10 the number of animals a person, entity or organization can put through the county’s low-cost spay and neuter program. It also prohibits paying to spay and neuter animals that are sold, adopted or released to people who don’t live in the county.

This program has run out of money during the last two years because a handful of people have used this service for a large number of pets, officials said.

Both ordinances go into effect in 30 days.

Claudette Cardwell, chairman of the advisory board, said she’s pleased with the Quorum Court’s action on the changes.

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