Dog plan expected to pass

The plan would boost the cost of getting a dog from the county pound.
& lt;a href=mailto:leigh@vindy.com & gt;By NORMAN LEIGH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County commissioners were expected today to make it mandatory that dogs adopted from the county pound be spayed or neutered.
"This is huge," Diane Less Baird said of the proposal, aimed at eventually slashing the number of stray and unwanted dogs, many of which must be destroyed.
Less Baird is president of Angels for Animals, a Mahoning County-based animal charity group that has worked with commissioners to develop the plan.
The measure is proposed by Commissioner Jim Hoppel. Fellow commissioners Sean Logan and Gary Williams have said they support it.
Less Baird said she believes Columbiana County would be the first of Ohio's 88 counties to require spaying or neutering at dog pounds.
Hopes others will follow
She added that she's hopeful the policy will be adopted by other county dog pounds.
Supporters believe that sterilizing adopted pound dogs will mean fewer puppies that will grow into unwanted dogs that end up at the pound. The pound gasses dogs that aren't adopted.
In 2002, the pound destroyed 777 dogs, more than twice the number that were adopted.
Those wishing to adopt dogs will pay for the mandatory spaying or neutering through increased fees.
It now costs $15 to adopt a dog from the pound, which accounts for an $8 license and a $7 pound fee.
New plan
Under the new plan, expected to take effect Jan. 1, adopting a dog will cost $50, with $15 going to the county, as it now does, and $35 to Angels.
Angels' staff veterinarians will perform the spaying or neutering. The $35 also includes a rabies shot.
Commissioners and Less Baird have acknowledged that the higher cost probably will trim the number of dogs adopted and could initially boost the number of canines that are gassed.
Once the spay-neuter program starts working, though, that figure should drop, plan supporters say.
Making people more serious about dog adoption is another beneficial impact the program should produce, Less Baird said.
If people have to pay more for a dog, they'll be less likely to adopt one from the pound and chain it outside the house as a guard dog, or use it in dog fighting, she said.