Monterey County moved closer on Tuesday to adopting a spay and neuter ordinance for unincorporated areas of the county.
The ordinance, which requires dogs to be surgically sterilized by a certain age was approved by the supervisors as a way to address pet overpopulation in the region and reduce euthanasia rates.
In 2024–25, the county shelter at Hitchcock Road euthanized 1,045 animals, according to the Jan. 15 JPA Board report.
Applicable to the unincorporated areas of the county, including the communities of Pajaro, Castroville, Prunedale and Carmel Valley, the ordinance will next go before the supervisors on July 7 for final adoption.
What is in the ordinance
The mandatory spay and neuter ordinance requires dog and cat owners, including those who feed and care for animals such as feral cats, to spay or neuter their animals by six and five months, respectively—unless medically exempted by a veterinarian or they are part of a law enforcement program.
It also authorizes the animal control officer to establish and administer a certification program to support the ordinance, which includes unaltered animal and breeding permits.
Requested by the supervisors at the June 9 meeting when a first version of the ordinance was introduced, eligible owners will be able to apply for an unaltered animal permit, which allows cats and dogs to go unsterilized past six months, if authorized by animal control and after certain conditions are met.
The owner of an unaltered female also has to agree the animal won’t have any litters per year, the ordinance notes, unless they also get a breeding permit and pay an annual fee.
During public comment, some speakers requested the breeding permit fee be hefty to add teeth to the ordinance, while a local rescuer requested stronger language around feral cats.
“We do not have the resources to monitor whether a member of the community have been feeding feral cats for 30 days or more, which is what would be required of the ACO [Animal Control Officer] if the language is not changed,” said Shay Kurtz. “The trappers that are attempting to help with the pet overpopulation are met with all sorts of excuses and reasons why they do not want the feral cats on their property to be trapped, fixed and released.”
To enforce the ordinance, Monterey County laid out a plan that includes education, public outreach and upon violation, sending out correction notices and administrative citations.
“Aggressive spay/neuter efforts have proven over the past 50 years to be the most effective strategy to combat pet overpopulation,” Melanie Sobel, the former general manager of the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter said during public comment. “But several efforts must work in concert with this—progressive programming includes legislation, education and awareness, affordable resources along with enforcement.”
The ordinance outlines a penalty structure that includes an initial no-fine 60-day correction notice, followed by $500 for a second violation and up to $750 for third and subsequent violations within a 12-month period.
Possible barriers to ordinance
County staff, during the presentation of the ordinance on June 9, highlighted potential “barriers to success” for a proposed mandatory spay/neuter policy. These include a continued veterinarian shortage, particularly a lack of veterinarians between Salinas and King City, and the high cost of spay and neuter services (with larger breed dogs sometimes costing more than $1,000 to be spayed, and brachycephalic breeds (shorter faces leading to possible respiratory conditions) often costing more due to added health risks during surgery).
There are also concerns that current and proposed staffing levels at Hitchcock Road Animal Services may not be sufficient for effective enforcement.
Increasing access to free or low-cost spay and neuter services rather than implementing a mandatory ordinance was the majority opinion of an advisory committee for Hitchcock Road Animal Services JPA Board earlier this year.
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Spay-neuter policy nears adoption in unincorporated Monterey County
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian | USA TODAY Network
