County approves pet sterilization ordinance

By Kyle B. Hansen

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010 | 3:49 p.m.

Clark County commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday requiring pets to be sterilized in an effort to reduce the number of animals that are euthanized.

The ordinance makes the county’s rules for spaying and neutering dogs and cats the same as those of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

Dogs and cats must be sterilized by the time they are four months old.

The ordinance includes exemptions for breeders, animals that have medical conditions and animals used as guides for disabled people, or those used by law enforcement.

“This is a regulated spay/neuter. It is not mandatory because it gives exemptions,” said Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who presented the ordinance.

The county’s ordinance comes less than two months after Las Vegas passed a similar law.

Giunchigliani said the ordinance was designed to target backyard breeders who illegally breed pets to sell online, on the street or in swap meets.

“It gives us one more tool to stop killing 30,000 animals a year,” she said.

The ordinance was first presented as requiring dogs to be sterilized by six months of age, an effort to get more people to support the measure, Giunchigliani said.

But the commissioners changed it to four months to match ordinances in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas to reduce confusion.

CORRECTION: This story was changed to correct that a cat must be sterilized by the time it's four months old, not three months, as originally reported. | (January 6, 2010)