PITTSFIELD – Pittsfield officials, along with pet owners across the state, are carefully watching the final state budget figures to see if a bill that could have an impact on the pet population will get funded.

The proposed bill creates the Companion Animal Sterilization Program to provide funding assistance to Maine residents who adopt a dog or cat from an animal shelter and need the animal to be spayed or neutered.

LD 1763 has been approved by both the House and the Senate and its enactment depends on how much money is left at the end of the session for funding.

If the Legislature funds the spay-neuter bill, proponents say the number of unwanted pets should decrease dramatically.

The bill is based on a New Hampshire law and it has a two-tiered fee system. A Maine resident pays a fee of $30 to participating veterinarians, but disabled, elderly, unemployed or low-income residents who are eligible to receive assistance – such as food stamps or unemployment benefits – pay $15. The fee covers an examination, vaccinations and sterilization.

Participating veterinarians are reimbursed for the difference between the fee paid and 80 percent of their bill, except they receive full reimbursement for seniors, disabled or low-income clients. The program would be funded through a voluntary checkoff on the Maine income tax form that would allow a taxpayer to donate a portion of a tax refund or make a donation with the tax return, but there is a small administrative cost of about $4,000 a year.

This past fall and winter, during weeks of discussion regarding a roaming cat problem in Pittsfield, pet owners pressed the Town Council to promote low-cost spay and neuter programs in order to foster responsibility.

Pittsfield Town Manager Kathryn Ruth said Tuesday that should the bill be funded, the town will adopt an educational program this fall to piggyback on the state law. She said she will attempt to set up low-cost rabies clinics, working with local veterinarians, and hopes to put out an educational bulletin notifying local pet owners of the new law and reduced-cost services.

Pittsfield officials were so bombarded with complaints about roaming cats that in January they passed an ordinance that treated stray cats the same as stray dogs.

Police Chief Steven Emery explained that in 2001 the town picked up 179 stray cats. “This is something that we have been doing for 10 years,” he said. “The only difference now is that there is an impound fee. That fee could be a deterrent.”

The new law increased impound fees for dogs from $25, $35 and $50 for the first three offenses to $35, $50 and $75, and for the first time, applied those identical fees to impounded cats. The fees are paid when owners collect their wayward pets.