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After decades of relying on owners to have their new pets spayed or neutered after adoption, the Montgomery County Humane Society has begun requiring animals adopted through the county's shelter to be spayed or neutered before they can be taken home.

Cooperating veterinary clinics are helping the humane society, which runs the county's animal shelter, make sure that new pets get surgery at a discounted rate before adopters take possession of the animal.

"The voucher system in place more than 30 years was outdated," said humane society President and CEO Cris Bombaugh, who was hired in January 2009.

The group had been criticized for not doing something earlier to ensure that dogs and cats who leave the shelter don't get a chance to reproduce and increase the number of animals who need homes.

A flat fee of $70 to alter a cat or kitten and $120 for a dog or puppy is roughly comparable to rates the society has offered through a coupon program that let adopters get a discount for the surgery after an animal was adopted.

Several veterinary clinics in Montgomery County quoted to The Gazette full-price rates of $150 to $550 for the surgery.

Monitoring compliance with the spay-neuter agreements took a lot of time, and making sure animals go home neutered is best for the animals and the community, said Jo Ann Hoffman, chairman of humane society's board of directors.

Although at least 85 percent of adopters were getting new pets spayed or neutered, "we were never able to guarantee 100 percent compliance," said Capt. Michael Wahl, animal services director for the county police. "Something has been needed for some time."

Hoffman and Bombaugh said the humane society had to work out a program that it and veterinarians could stand behind.

Veterinarians "wanted to make sure they'd be included, that they would have interaction with the owner of the animal," Bombaugh said.

Under the new program, prospective owners seeking to adopt an animal that has not been spayed or neutered must complete an agreement for the surgery at the shelter. Most animal shelters in the region make sure the animals are spayed or neutered on-site or elsewhere before they are adopted.

Shelter staff will arrange for the surgery and transport the cat or dog to the veterinary clinic, and the adopter will pick up the animal from the veterinarian's office after the surgery.

The Montgomery County Humane Society also offers low-cost spaying and neutering for animals not adopted from the shelter.

Details are available online at www.mchumane.org/spayneuter.shtml.

mhyslop@gazette.net