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<br /> organizations who dispute our analysis and offer projections to show that <br /> <br /> cat licensing will make money for animal control services in their <br /> <br /> communities. we believe these agencies should be willing to stand behind <br /> <br /> these projections by having their taxpayer- financed budgets cut by the <br /> projected amount. Without this or a similar mechanism for accountability, <br /> <br /> we fear cat licensing will become yet another expensive government program <br /> <br /> that only works to inappropriately expand government bureaucracies at the <br /> expense of local taxpayers, responsible cat caretakers, and the animals <br /> themselves. <br /> CLAIM: Regulating cat owners through licensing and other mandates is the <br /> only way to solve cat problems. <br /> In our view, the way to teach people to be responsible pet owners and help <br /> the cats in a community at large through coercive mandates, when it is the <br /> local shelters who are the primary source of animals and whose policies <br /> and practices have the greatest impact, for better or worse, on local <br /> animal welfare issues. <br /> We realize, however that in some cases local shelter policies may have <br /> failed and animal problems may be worsening in a community. In such cases, <br /> government intervention might be warranted, provided it is carefully <br /> focused to have the greatest impact. For instance, requiring shelters to <br /> alter animals before adoption and to devote a substantial proportion of <br /> their annual animal control and shelter budgets (e.g., 10-20%) to offering <br /> free spay/neuter services would do fa~ more to help cats and reduce pet <br /> overpopulation than cat licensing and other punitive mandates. <br /> 4 <br /> <br />