07/28/1982 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ . Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, that the bill be read the e second time by council bill number only, with unanimous consent of the council, and that enactment be considered at this time. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Smith, that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. III. PUBLIC HEARING: PROPOSED SPAY/NEUTER RATE INCREASE (memo distributed) Councilor Lindberg said a slight increase in proposed in vaccination rates at the City of Eugene's Spay Neuter Clinic. Due to the severe downturn in the economy, business has been down at the Spay Neuter Clinic. Business has actually been down in the entire veterinary community. Some adjustments are necessary to make the spay neuter service pay for itself. One reason for the drastic drop in revenue is that there are fewer adoptions of pets this year compared to prior years. Mr. Lindberg said Dr. Ann Samsel 1 , the Spay Neuter Clinic veterinarian, Finance, and himself had considered a number of options and considered this increase in the vaccination rate to be the most painless of the options. It would continue the incentive that is created by having a low-cost spay neuter clinic and at the same time would not be such an overwhelming price increase that it creates problems. There are a number of other efforts that are being made to improve business at the Spay Neuter Clinic. The long-range picture is optimistic, but a rate adjustment is needed to address the current financial state. e Public hearing was opened. Sandra Neal, 2555 Gateway #8, said the rate increase in the Spay Neuter Clinic is uneconomical in a lot of regards. The economy at this time is bad and people cannot afford to adopt pets. If the prices are raised, people will not be able to afford the shots. If those prices are increased, animals will go without and people will have a tendency to turn those animals loose. They won't be able to care for them the way they should, and this can increase illness and health hazards. Those animals will be running around loose on the street; children and other animals can get sick from those. If prices could be lowered by 25 cents or 50 cents, the volume that go to the Spay Neuter Clinic would increase, and maybe that could take care of the deficit that the City Council is worried abo ut . With the economy the way it is, people cannot afford anything that takes too much money, and with the prices increased, they will be the same as the veterinarians in the area. If that is the case, people won't take the time to go out to the Spay Neuter Clinic, which is low-cost, and they will just go straight to their veterinarian. The volume will go down at the Spay Neuter Clinic. Dogs are coming down with more and more diseases. If people can't afford the shots, these diseases can become epidemic and be transferred to children and other animals. She said the whole thing is a health hazard if people can't afford to give their animals the kindness of shots. If the prices are raised, that kindness can become too expensive for most people. The Spay Neuter Clinic is supposed to be low-cost. It is for people who do not have the money to afford veterinarians. When the prices go up to be comparable with those veterinarians, she asked what the point was. Prices should stay lower for e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 1982 Page 6