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Bob Barker To Lobby For City Spay/Neuter Law

Proposed Ordinance Would Require All Dog And Cat Owners To Spay, Neuter Pets

CHICAGO (STNG) ― Retired "The Price is Right" game show host and animal activist Bob Barker is scheduled to testify Tuesday morning at City Hall in favor of legislation which would require all Chicago dog and cat owners to spay or neuter their pets once they reach the age of six months.

A leader on animal advocacy issues, Barker is the founder of the DJ&T Foundation, named after his late wife, Dorothy Jo, and his mother, Matilda (Tilly), which provides financial assistance to organizations that spay and neuter dogs and cats.

"One of our most tragic animal problems is overpopulation and this ordinance would help immeasurably to solve that problem" Barker said in a release from Ald. Ed Burke's (14th Ward) office.

Also testifying Tuesday is Paula Fasseas, Founder and Chair of PAWS Chicago, the largest "no-kill" humane organization in the city. The hearing, which is open to the public, is set to begin at 10 a.m. in the Council Chambers before a Joint Committee on Finance and License and Consumer Protection.

The ordinance, sponsored by Burke and Ald. Virginia A. Rugai (19th Ward), seeks to reduce the number of homeless dogs and cats that roam city streets as well as protect Chicagoans from random, unprovoked attacks by overly aggressive animals.


Proponents of the measure cite research that suggests that neutering a pet can reduce aggression, according to the release. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, sexually intact dogs are 2.6 times more likely to bite than neutered dogs.

Aldermen Burke and Rugai introduced the measure last May after a pack of five pit bulls attacked a woman while she was walking in the 6600 block of South Richmond Avenue on the Southwest Side.

The victim, Gabriela Munoz Lopez, was on her way to pick her children up from school on April 10th when the pit bulls seemingly sprung from nowhere. The dogs bit her on the face, head and legs. She was rescued by a passing motorist who backed his van up onto the sidewalk and pulled her inside the vehicle. Lopez required hospitalization.

Rugai said that history is "bound to repeat itself" until the City Council addresses the issue, noting that another pack of pit bulls attacked and killed one woman and injured another in the Dan Ryan Woods in 2003 which is located partly in her ward.

In addition, the aldermen said the proposal takes aim at Chicago gang members who operate dog-fighting rings. Under the legislation, individuals seeking an exemption to the sterilization requirement would be forced to apply for a breeder's license, a step that would require a criminal background check.

"I don't know of too many gang members that would be willing to subject themselves to this type of scrutiny by law enforcement authorities," Burke said.

Other exemptions within the ordinance include show-dogs, guard dogs, service dogs and any dog or cat certified by a licensed veterinarian as having "a valid health reason not to be sterilized."

First-time violators of the ordinance would be issued a notice, but not a fine, then given 60 days to comply with the ordinance. Second-time violators would be fined $100 and further violations would result in a fine up to $500 and be grounds for possible animal impoundment and compulsory sterilization.

(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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