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Council approves budget adjustment to fund spay/neuter services; members pressed for numbers and staffing details
Summary
Rochester City Council approved a budget amendment to fund spay and neuter services and medications for Rochester Animal Services after members questioned veterinary staffing and the number of animals adopted without sterilization.
Rochester City Council voted to amend the 202425 budget to fund spay and neuter services and medications for Rochester Animal Services.
Council member Stanley Martin asked administration officials how spay/neuter services had been handled prior to the contract and whether there was a full-time veterinarian on staff. Mayor Evans (or his administration representative) said the city does not have a full-time veterinarian on staff; the city currently employs a per-diem veterinarian who works roughly eight hours some days each week and that the newly approved funds will be used in part to contract with private veterinary practices to provide spay/neuter services.
Martin also asked about a disclosure in the transmittal noting that, earlier, to expedite adoptions some animals were released without being spayed or neutered. City staff reported the number as 765 animals adopted between the end of 2022 through January of the current year; they said that as of February the department was altering animals before they left the shelter and that Rochester Animal Services was also contacting adopters from earlier adoptions to schedule procedures. Council member Michael A. Patterson confirmed his office had been contacted about adopter follow-up and said the shelter was scheduling surgeries for prior adopters.
The budget amendment (Introductory 129) passed on voice vote after the committee report; council members subsequently advanced the item to a roll call on related measures later in the meeting. Council requested that outstanding transmittal questions be answered in writing; the mayor’s office said council staff and corporation counsel would coordinate written responses.
The action funds spay/neuter capacity by outsourcing to private providers when needed and allocates funds for medications; the administration said the change was intended to ensure animals are sterilized before adoption when possible and to support follow-up for prior adoptions that left animals intact.
