Council bill would slash fee to sterilize feral cats

A bill that would create a new, low-cost spaying and neutering option for feral or community cats is scheduled for a final vote by the Honolulu City Council today.

Bill 22, introduced by Council members Ann Kobayashi and Trevor Ozawa, has gone through several incarnations and the Council faces a daunting task with at least three versions of the measure to consider.

The way the program now works, the city sells certificates — $50 for spaying of a female cat and $40 for neutering a male. For the cost of a certificate, the pet owner can go to one of 23 participating clinics or veterinarians for a pet’s surgical procedure at a significant discount over the market rate. The vet or clinic absorbs the remainder of the cost in most cases.

Services covered include pre-surgery examination, anesthesia, sterilization surgery and removal of stitches.

The current draft, approved by the Budget Committee on June 28, calls for the city to offer the public a $10 certificate allowing for spaying and neutering of a feral or “community cat.”

A floor draft being proposed by Councilman Ikaika Anderson creates a pilot program that would run through June 30, requiring the city to charge up to $10 for certificates for spaying or neutering feral cats. A floor draft proposed by Council Chairman Ron Menor also would create a pilot program, through March 1, requiring the city to charge up to $20 for certificates for spaying or neutering a feral cat.

The Hawaiian Humane Society, which administers the city’s existing Neuter Now spay/neuter program, said it supports ways of encouraging the sterilization of feral or free-roaming cats, but opposes all versions of the bill out of concern they jeopardize the current program’s core services.

The amount going into the new service could cut significantly into the limited number of existing certificates now issued at satellite city halls or the Humane Society for pet owners who want to spay or neuter their pet dogs or cats, said Stephanie Kendrick, Humane Society public policy advocate. The city sets aside $500,000 for the Neuter Now program. (The city’s bundled $12.2 million contract with the Humane Society also includes animal shelter services and fowl nuisance complaints.)

Separately, the city charges pet owners with EBT cards $20 for sterilization of any dogs or cats, and picks up the difference between the cost of a standard certificate and $20. The various versions of Bill 22 also propose adding pet owners who have either a Medicaid card or low-income housing voucher to those who could obtain certificates for the same $20 rate as those with EBT cards.

Among the biggest proponents of the bill has been the West Oahu-based nonprofit Poi Dogs &Popoki, which operates the Big Fix mobile spay/neuter clinic.

Poi Dogs &Popoki President Alicia Maluafiti, in written testimony submitted earlier this year, said low-cost spay/neuter programs help to decrease cat and dog overpopulation.

“For every dollar that we spend on sterilizing animals, we save the city $4 on the cost of taking in animals, feeding and sheltering them, and then inevitably euthanizing and disposing of them,” Maluafiti wrote.

Nearly one-fourth of spay/neuter surgeries come from EBT cardholders and the number is growing, Maluafiti said. Offering those on Medicaid or who are living in low-income housing the discounted fee would help immensely, she said.