DALTON, Ga. — The members of the audience that packed a meeting of the Whitfield County Board of Commissioners on Monday broke into applause after commissioners voted 3-1 to require dog and cat owners to have their pets spayed or neutered if they are six months old or older or obtain a breeder’s license from the state Department of Agriculture. Animals will also be exempt from the spay/neuter requirement if the owner provides a letter from a veterinarian saying the animal has a medical condition that would not allow the surgery.

Commissioner Harold Brooker cast the dissenting vote. Commissioner Greg Jones was absent, and board Chairman Lynn Laughter, who typically votes only when there is a tie, voted with the majority on the advice of County Attorney Robert Smalley so the measure would have three votes.

“It isn’t right that people will bring in a litter of puppies to the animal shelter for us to put down and they won’t have their female fixed,” said Commissioner Roger Crossen.

Animal Shelter Director Diane Franklin said people bring litters of kittens and puppies almost daily, and they are often people she recognizes for having brought in unwanted animals before.

Those who violate the law face a fine of up to $1,000 but the law says any citation for a first offense will be dismissed if the owner provides medical records saying the animal has been spayed or neutered.

“I think it will help,” said Samuel Shatz, executive director of the Humane Society of Northwest Georgia. “I’m sure it won’t be 100 percent effective. No law is. But it will send a message that this is what responsible pet owners should do.”

Franklin said there are low-cost spay and neuter options available for as little as $80, and there are some veterinarians who will do it for free for someone who is truly destitute. She said the cost of a breeder’s license varies by the amount of sales a breeder expects to have but the most expensive is $400.

But county resident Velda Walden said it isn’t fair to require pet owners who aren’t causing problems to have to obtain a breeder’s license if they want to keep their animals intact.

“Whitfield County already has a law that says your animal has to be under the control of the owner,” she said. “That is not the case. I have dogs around my property all the time, and when my dog is in heat I can have 15 dogs out there. I call animal control and it can be three or four hours before they come out there, if they come out there. They need to go after the problem, and the problem isn’t people who are taking care of their animals.”

Brooker said he agreed and that’s why he voted against the law.

“If somebody brings a litter of puppies into the shelter, I think we ought to make sure that the mother is fixed,” he said. “But I don’t think we ought to be going out looking for animals.”

Franklin said animal control will not be looking for owners and will only enforce the law when they come into contact with an animal, but she indicated that will include females in heat that are attracting other dogs.

Laughter said she didn’t think that would apply to situations such as that described by Walden.

“If somebody has their dog on their property, has it under control and it isn’t getting pregnant, I don’t think that’s an issue,” she said. “I think the problem is when these dogs are loose or when there’s a female in heat and other dogs are getting onto the property that we are concerned about.”

Last year, at Franklin’s suggestion, commissioners approved a law increasing the fee to reclaim an animal from the animal shelter that had been picked up by animal control to $150 from $25, but automatically reduced that fee to $25 if the animal had been previously spayed or neutered. And If the animal has not been spayed or neutered, the law says the fee will be waived entirely if the owner requests that Whitfield County Animal Control carry the animal to a licensed spay/neuter clinic of the owner’s choice and the clinic confirms it has spayed or neutered the animal at the owner’s expense.

Commissioners voted 4-0 on Monday to:

• Approve a resolution opposing proposed state legislation that would bar local governments from regulating the design of one- and two-family homes. Whitfield County does not have such regulation but commissioners say the legislation would usurp what has traditionally been a local prerogative.

• Approve a change order to the contract with Felker Construction of Dalton for building Fire Station 11 in Cohutta. The cost for building the fire station, which opened last year, came in at $1.461 million, under the $1.504 million in the original contract, and the change order reflects that.

• Approve an $18,233 contract with Battlefield Plumbing of Fort Oglethorpe to install two boilers in the Whitfield County jail.

• Accept a $73,054 bid from Mountain View Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram for three full-size sedans for the sheriff’s office. The vehicles will be purchased with money from the 2015 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

• Accept a $93,000 bid from Ford of Dalton for three three-quarter-ton crew-cab pickup trucks for the sheriff’s office.

• Approve $640,336 in various bids on vehicles and equipment for the Public Works Department. These include a $110,508 bid for a crew-cab landscape truck from Rush Truck Center of Atlanta, a $183,625 bid for a tar-distribution truck from TEC of Calhoun and a $119,991 bid for a tandem dump truck from Premier Truck Group of Ringgold. The items will be paid for with funds from the department’s capital budget as well as money from the 2015 SPLOST.