The Waco City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night requiring Waco pet owners to spay or neuter their pets or buy a permit, but they left details such as enforcement and fees to be worked out before the law takes effect in January.

The council voted 5-1 in favor of the “spay or pay” ordinance after hearing two hours of impassioned arguments from the policy’s opponents and advocates.

Councilman Wilbert Austin cast the dissenting vote, saying the policy would burden the poor and elderly.

Karen Froehlich, executive director of the Waco Humane Society, addresses the Waco City Council in front of large crowd Tuesday night.
Duane A. Laverty/Waco Tribune-Herald

The crowd of about 70 appeared evenly split in its opinions.

Councilwoman Toni Herbert reached out to detractors of the ordinance, who argued that it amounted to a tax on responsible breeders. She urged them to help the city battle animal overpopulation and neglect.

“I think there’s more that we agree on than disagree on,” she said. “Every single one of you has the best interest of animals at heart. Please keep doing that. . . . We have heard from you, and we will take your comments seriously.”

Under the ordinance, owners will have to pay an annual fee for each dog or cat they choose to keep unaltered. Exceptions are made for animals that are younger than 6 months, that are being held at a pet store or shelter or that are intact on a veterinarian’s advice.

Council members said they will continue to refine how the ordinance is to be enforced.

The Animal Control Advisory Board, which recommended the ordinance, proposed a $50 intact animal fee, but no amount was specified in the ordinance.

Council members said they will discuss the fee during the budget process this summer.

City officials have said animal control officers will enforce the ordinance only when there is a problem with an animal, such as a stray, neglected or aggressive dog.

It’s unclear what role the Waco Humane Society shelter will play in enforcement. The nonprofit shelter contracts with Waco and neighboring cities to take stray and unwanted animals.

Executive director Karen Froelich said the city will have to decide whether to cite owners of unpermitted intact animals when they are reclaimed at the shelter.

Meanwhile, Councilman Randy Riggs said he would like to consider an addendum to the ordinance to crack down on people who sell puppies out of parking lots or roadsides.

Mayor Jim Bush said there will be “ample time to tweak” the ordinance over the coming months and years.

Opponents Tuesday night warned the ordinance would be ineffective and would burden the city with enforcement and administration costs.

Some said the spay-or-pay requirement would keep some pet owners away from the veterinarian and could result in more unwanted dogs.

“This is not going to work,” Cen-Tex Kennel Club vice president Donna Sammon said. “All you’re doing is taxing responsible citizens of Waco.”

The opponents suggested more enforcement of laws already on the books and more education about responsible pet ownership, pointing to Calgary, Canada, as a model for outreach.

Sandy Witliff, a Humane Society official whose duties include euthanizing unwanted animals, said it’s not easy to get people to change their attitudes about pet ownership, part of what she called “the culture of the South.”

For too many people, she said, “animals are throwaways, no more than property.”

“Until you can change the culture, we’ll have to continue to pick and choose which animals die.”

Froelich, the shelter director, said she was encouraged by the turnout on both sides of the issue and said she hoped that it would be the beginning of a community dialogue on how animals are cared for.

“We welcome everyone to the table,” she said. “We’re all animal lovers.”

jbsmith@wacotrib.com

757-5752