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Jun 19, 2006 6:31 pm US/Pacific
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Measure Approved To Control Rabbit Population
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Multiplication just got harder for rabbits adopted in Los Angeles. The City Council's Budget and Finance Committee signed off Monday on a plan to nearly triple adoption fees for the cuddly creatures to ensure they are sterilized when they leave city shelters.
Under the proposal, rabbit adoption fees would jump from the current $15 to $40 at the city's six animal shelters to coincide with rates charged by local nonprofit animal rescue agencies.
The full City Council will have the final say on the rabbit adoption fees.
Officials at the Animal Services Department had originally asked that the fee be increased to $50, but the council committee found the rate hike to be too drastic.
"I think if our goal is to have as many sterilized rabbits as possible out there, we have to be as competitive as possible," Councilman Jose Huizar said. "So the question for me is what's going to make people buy our product, or those at rescue agencies or at private pet stores?"
The current $15 adoption fee does not include spay or neutering services, but the proposed hike includes mandatory rabbit sterilization to keep the cotton-tailed critters from proliferating, according to a report from the City Attorney's Office.
Animal Services Department personnel said they hope the mandatory sterilization will reduce the number of unwanted rabbits that are euthanized, returned to shelters or dumped throughout the city.
"One of the problems we have is that rabbits are impulse buys," animal activist Evelyn Walton said. "People don't understand the kind of care they need. The less you pay for them, the less you value them."
The plan also falls in line with a policy by the city's new Animal Services director, Ed Boks, who wants to implement a "no-kill" policy within five years at the city's animal shelters.
Part of that policy includes the spaying or neutering of adopted animals to control the pet population.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa fired Boks' predecessor, Guerdon Stuckey, as head of the Animal Services Department last December amid concerns that too many animals were being euthanized at the city's shelters.
There were 386 rabbits adopted from the city's shelters in 2005, and 134 euthanizations, according to the Animal Services Department Web site. During the first four months of 2006, 195 rabbits were adopted, and 48 were euthanized.
"We have an overpopulation of rabbits in our city's shelters," animal shelter volunteer Michelle Kelly told the committee. "We absolutely have to have the rabbits neutered, which means an increased adoption fee."
The proposed policy is consistent with that of other animal shelters throughout Southern California, including Los Angeles and San Diego counties, Burbank, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Pasadena and Pomona.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)