Spay and neuter debate ends without vote

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).