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Spay and neuter debate ends without vote

March 12, 2009

Dog and cat lovers on both sides of the great spay and neutering debate retreated to their respective corners Thursday without a vote on a controversial Chicago mandate.

Three days after boldly proclaiming he had the votes, Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) called off a vote on a proposal to require Chicago dog and cat owners to spay or neuter their pets older than 6 months.

It happened after a 3œ-hour hearing that barely made a dent in the 134 witnesses who had signed up to testify.

“The court reporter was wearing out,” Burke said.

“It looks like it’s breaking down evenly divided. But I still believe there’s a sufficient number of votes to pass this thing.”

Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) said she has a problem with Burke’s attempt to “criminalize behavior” of pet owners. She also questioned his priorities.

“If you ask the people in my ward on my block, they would say, ‘Do I want the police running after unspayed dogs, or do I want ’em running after those people out here shooting at our kids?’ ” Lyle said.

Tailor-made to reduce animal aggression and Chicago’s stray population, the stalled ordinance would require virtually all dogs and cats older than 6 months to be sterilized.

Those who ignore the mandate would be slapped with fines of $100 a month.

PAWS Chicago, a no-kill animal humane society, has lined up a powerful team of lobbyists to push the ordinance through the City Council. They include former state Rep. Sam Panayotovich, a former Democrat-turned-Republican and close friend of convicted former Ald. Edward R. Vrdolyak (10th).