The ordinance directs the county shelter to vaccinate and spay or neuter impounded feral cats and then release them where they were found.
On the June 20 edition of Local News Hour, Wasatch County Manager Dustin Grabau told KPCW that "catch and release" was more effective in controlling feral populations than other methods.
"If you capture these cats and just have had people adopt them, or euthanize them, which is not our goal, what actually happens is the cat populations will continue to replace those individuals that you removed from it," he said.
Spaying and neutering feral cats has benefits beyond population control, according to Heber Lefgren, the assistant county manager for Wasatch County and previous director for San Antonio’s Animal Care Services.
"Oftentimes that action takes care of a lot of nuisance issues such as the spraying or the yeowing at nights," He told the council on June 21.
The other code change establishes when officers can act if an animal is found in a hot car.
The animal must be left in the vehicle for at least 10 minutes, the interior car temperature must be 90 degrees or hotter, and the animal must show signs of distress.
Deputy County Attorney Shelby Thurgood advised the council on the ordinance.
"It’s very narrow, but it does give animal control the ability to address the situation as it arises," she told the council.
The council unanimously passed the updates at the June 21 meeting.
