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Council adopts ordinance shortening animal-control holds, waiving reclaim fees for spay/neuter voucher purchasers
Summary
Ordinance G 20 25-13 (amended) was adopted to change stray-hold periods (dogs 4 days, cats 3 days, community cats 24 hours) and to waive daily reclaim fees when a reclaiming owner agrees to purchase a spay/neuter voucher, officials said the changes aim to reduce shelter overcrowding and speed rescues.
The Evansville Common Council on June 23 adopted Ordinance G 20 25-13 (amended), revising Evansville Animal Care and Control procedures to shorten stray-hold times and to adjust reclaim fees tied to spay/neuter vouchers.
City staff said the changes emerged from meetings with the Evansville Animal Care and Control Commission and local rescue partners. Under the amended ordinance, staff told the council the proposed hold periods are: 4 days for dogs, 3 days for cats and 24 hours for community cats. The ordinance also allows the city to waive daily reclaim fees if a finder or owner agrees to purchase a spay-and-neuter voucher when reclaiming an animal.
Support and rationale: Kendall Paul, CEO of Vanderburgh Humane Society and a member of the Animal Control and Education Commission, told council the ordinance “will certainly help the overcrowding issue to some extent” by giving animal control flexibility to move animals sooner into rescue or adoption streams and free kennel space. City staff and commissioners stressed the change is intended to provide an option when overcrowding is a problem, not an automatic requirement to euthanize or dispose of animals on the first available day.
Questions and clarifications: Councilman Green asked whether the ordinance addressed procedures when the owner of an animal is deceased and the animal has been fostered; staff said they had met with Animal Control leadership to develop a standard procedure and would publish that to bridal control (animal control) materials and public-facing information.
Vote: The clerk recorded the roll call as 8 ayes, 0 nays; the ordinance was declared adopted.
Ending: Officials said the change was developed in consultation with local rescue organizations and the animal-control commission and was one of a series of steps the city plans to consider to address shelter overcrowding.
