New St. Paul ordinance 'gives animals a chance'

A new ordinance to discourage euthanizing cats and dogs at animal shelters has put St. Paul in the middle of a national debate over how best to deal with the pervasive issue of stray and abandoned animals.

Surprisingly, the debate is pitting the "no-kill" shelter movement — which praises the St. Paul measure — against the formidable animal rights group PETA.

Last week, the City Council unanimously approved a policy to require shelters to take steps to find a home for healthy, even-tempered cats or dogs before they can be euthanized. That makes St. Paul apparently the first Minnesota city to pass such a measure. Minneapolis is developing a similar proposal for introduction before the City Council sometime next year.

From now on, it won't be enough for St. Paul shelters to simply wait out the state's required five-day holding period before putting down an animal. They will have to work with a veterinarian to ensure that they tried to save the animal by placing it in a home, or least explain why they didn't — whether because of space, staff or budget issues.

"I don't think people realize what a really big deal this is," said Council President Kathy Lantry, who sponsored the ordinance and worked with local shelters to develop a proposal they could back.

However, opponents such as PETA believe that restricting euthanasia will result in overcrowded shelters, exposing more animals to disease and aggressive cage mates.

The Animal Humane Society, which operates one of its five metro-area shelters in St. Paul, had opposed a similar bill which was introduced (and failed) during the last two legislative sessions.

But it endorsed the St. Paul ordinance because it gave shelter officials greater flexibility in making euthanasia decisions, said Kathy Mock, who directs government affairs and community engagement for the Animal Humane Society.

"In terms of euthanasia, this puts into practice a lot of what we're already doing," Mock said.

Opponents: Focus is wrong

PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says that such laws wrongly blame shelters for animal overpopulation. The real problem is rampant breeding and the lack of effective spay-and-neuter programs, said Teresa Chagrin, animal care and control specialist at PETA headquarters in Norfolk, Va.

"To have legislators and people in the community going on the presumption that shelters like to kill animals and that they aren't working hard enough is insulting and demoralizing," Chagrin said. "Shelters are not creating this problem — they're trying to protect animals."

Another animal rights group, Minnesota Voters for Animal Protection (MVAP), has opposed the statewide bill as "potentially burdensome" to shelters because of the amount of paperwork needed to track animals and justify the decision to euthanize.

The St. Paul ordinance has similar record-keeping provisions. It requires a shelter to post online how many animals it has, how they got there, how many were adopted or moved, and how many were put down.

The ordinance requires that suffering animals be euthanized without delay. But no animal can be allowed to witness the euthanasia of another, or see the remains of euthanized animals. And an animal undergoing euthanasia can't be left alone before it dies.

Christine Coughlin, executive director of MVAP, said her board plans to weigh in soon on the St. Paul ordinance. "The initial read is positive," she said.

New hand at animal control

Much of the credit for the St. Paul ordinance has been given to Molly Lunaris, who became the city's animal control supervisor last year.

Lunaris, a Minnesota native who worked several years for animal services in the District of Columbia, has focused on building networks with local shelters and rescue groups to find homes for the stray or unwanted dogs and cats that the city picks up. In some ways, the ordinance codifies the system that she had already put in place.

"It does set euthanasia standards," Lunaris said. "This doesn't mean that the city won't ever kill animals. It says that what we have to do first is try to re-home animals. … An animal doesn't expire here just because the time runs out."

The new policy hasn't cost the city money, she said; in fact, the department's food budget has declined, although she said it's not clear if that's because animals are moving out faster, or fewer animals were brought in because of the hard winter.

"The impression, as far back as 'Lady and the Tramp,' is that animals come to the pound and they die. For many years there was good reason to believe that was happening," Lunaris said. "What we're looking to do is be more transparent so that our taxpaying public can say animals have a chance in St. Paul."

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, about 7.6 million companion animals — including about 3.9 million dogs and 3.4 million cats — enter shelters in the United States each year. About 2.7 million animals are euthanized annually, and about 650,000 who enter as strays are returned to their owners.

Mock said that all of the Humane Society's five shelters, which together see an average of 23,000 animals every year, will implement the St. Paul standards. Its other shelters are in Buffalo, Coon Rapids, Golden Valley and Woodbury.

Minneapolis City Council Member Andrew Johnson said that a similar measure should be ready to introduce to the council by next spring. He said he hoped it would be a comprehensive policy on animal handling.

"Our goals are: How can we ensure that animals are being treated as well as possible, and how can we make sure that we're reducing, if not altogether eliminating, unnecessary euthanasia in this city?" he said.

Mike Fry, the former director of a no-kill shelter in Hastings who has launched "No Kill Learning," a website devoted to saving healthy and treatable shelter animals, thanked the St. Paul City Council last week for what he called "an outstanding ordinance."

Fry said that Austin, Texas, which passed a similar measure in 2010, has since become the country's largest "no-kill" community — which he defines as saving more than 90 percent of shelter animals. Two states, California and Delaware, also have passed laws to reduce euthanasia.

"We want to make sure that other shelters across the nation are stepping up to achieve those same goals," he said.

Kevin Duchschere • 651-925-5035