Dallas dog and cat owners object to proposal to curb pets

A plan to enact strict new rules for pet ownership in Dallas drew sharp opposition at City Hall on Monday, despite the City Council’s insistence that something must be done to address a massive and growing stray-dog problem.

Pet owners, breeders and dog show participants showed up in force to protest the proposed changes, which include mandatory spaying and neutering of pets and limiting Dallas households to a total of six cats and dogs.

“I do believe there is a stray-dog problem, but these particular changes won’t solve that,” said Sarah Hebler, owner of a Belgian Tervuren she doesn’t want to have fixed.

Many who attended the meeting said the plan will place new burdens on responsible pet owners and do nothing to stop people who don’t follow current regulations.

But city officials, including Animal Shelter Advisory Commission Chairman Robert “Skip” Trimble, said the city can’t stand by anymore while packs of dogs run wild in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

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Astros and pets pose for calendar to raise money for the Houston Humane Society

It was hard to decide which was cuter: Houston Astros pitcher Wesley Wright’s getting instructions on how to cradle the whimpering puppy or the sweet-faced pup that almost fit into his hand.

For comic relief, J.R. Towles’ dog used the grass, which everyone had been warned to stay off, for another kind of relief.

And for some extra drama, 6-year-old Alisia Cruz fell in love with the yellow kitten her dad posed with for the third annual Astros players and pet calendar.

Twenty players signed up for the Monday calendar shoot organized by pitcher Dave Borkowski and his wife, Jill, at Minute Maid Park to raise awareness of homeless animals and the need for spaying and neutering. They also hope to raise about $100,000 for the Houston Humane Society.

The 2009 calendar will go on sale in the fall.

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Community-based Approach Best Bet To Control Free-roaming Cats, Survey Suggests

A survey gauging Ohioans’ attitudes about free-roaming cats suggests that no single statewide measure would be sufficient in managing cat overpopulation because public opinion about outdoor cats varies widely across the state.

In particular, perceptions about the need to regulate cat overpopulation in Ohio tend to differ among rural and urban dwellers and among cat owners and people who do not own pets.

Compounding the problem is that a quarter of Ohio households are feeding free-roaming cats, but most of those residents aren’t ensuring that the outdoor cats they feed are spayed or neutered.

The Ohio State University survey indicates that about 40 percent of cat owners allow their cats to go outdoors. At the same time, almost half of the survey respondents believe laws should prohibit owners from letting their cats roam outside and nearly as many believe local governments should be responsible for controlling free-roaming cats.

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