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Volunteers and residents urge West Covina to require spay/neuter and microchipping; city staff says an ordinance will be drafted
Summary
Multiple public commenters urged the council to adopt spay-neuter and microchipping requirements and enforcement to reduce shelter intake; council asked staff to prepare options and staff said it will return with proposals.
A string of residents and animal-care volunteers urged the West Covina City Council on May 6 to adopt mandatory spay/neuter and microchipping rules and stronger enforcement to reduce the number of animals entering shelters.
Volunteers and shelter advocates described the human and financial costs of stray and abandoned animals, presented comparative intake statistics for neighboring cities, and recommended ordinances to require spay/neuter and microchipping, along with targeted outreach and low-cost voucher programs. Tom Keish, a volunteer and frequent advocate, walked the council through a hypothetical chain of events—stray, fights, bite investigations, vehicle collisions, impound and shelter costs—to illustrate what advocates called recurring public-safety and fiscal burdens.
Other speakers, including Veronica and Bob Arnold (shelter volunteers), described cases in which microchipping quickly reunited lost pets with owners and cited an American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) study showing higher return-to-owner rates for microchipped animals.
City Manager Paulina Morales responded during the meeting that staff had already been asked to explore options and that the city is working on bringing an item forward for council consideration on spay/neuter and microchipping. Several council members acknowledged the volunteers’ requests and encouraged staff to include outreach and low-cost options as part of any proposal.
What’s next: staff will draft options for council consideration, including possible ordinance language, outreach strategies, and low-cost or voucher programs for residents. The council did not take an immediate vote; instead the matter was referred to staff with direction to prepare a report.
