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Consulting a laptop computer in his city-issued van, animal services Cpl. Steve Elzy of the Environmental Health Department went over his next assignment.

Someone had called in a tip that a yard on Tomasita Street Northeast had an increasingly smelly complement of dog feces.

"Nine times out of 10, it's a neighbor," Elzy said of the complainant.

He would eventually write up the owner, but a little over a month after the city's landmark and controversial animal-welfare law, the HEART Ordinance, went into effect, animal control officers say the impact of law has been minor.

Contrary to rumor, officers are not patrolling city streets looking for HEART violators. "We only issue citations when we respond to calls for service," said Denise Wilcox, the city's animal control director.

On Tomasita Street, Elzy knocked on the door, and after a calm and cooperative conversation with the two dogs' owner - a woman in her 30s - and a tour of the yard, he returned to his van and opened his ticket book.

As the air conditioning blasted and the remains of the morning sun filtered down to the quiet residential street, Elzy wrote citations for expired licenses, not having identification microchips for the animals and a general failure to do poop-scooping patrol in the backyard.

The microchipping charge was the only HEART Ordinance offense among them. While the new law sets out a wide range of requirements for pet owners, microchipping and failing to spay or neuter an animal account for a vast majority of HEART citations, Wilcox said.

Since a six-month grace period ended April 10, officers have issued 143 microchip tickets, and 106 more for animals that haven't been fixed.

Though it's too early to see the results, the hope is to encourage more responsible pet ownership and reduce the number of unwanted pets the city has to euthanize, said City Councilor and HEART sponsor Sally Mayer.

"Things are definitely on the right track," she said.

In theory, one of those tickets alone could bring a $500 fine or 90 days in jail, but in practice, that's unlikely, Elzy said. Judges can even dismiss cases if the owner can present proof that the required procedures have been done.

The fight to pass HEART took up several contentious council meetings and nearly saw Mayer recalled, but for Elzy, the ordinance comes down to this: two more items on his checklist, and an extra ticket to write.

"There's not a whole lot that really changed," he said.

The feeling is echoed at veterinary clinics across town. With the new law comes a small uptick in customers looking for microchips and, ahem, all the fixin's.

Most people get the newly required procedures done during their pets' annual physicals, said Jeff Livingstone, a veterinarian at Del Norte Animal Clinic.

The increase in business is more noticeable at Sandia Animal Clinic, where receptionist Carlie Klepach says the soonest she can squeeze in a microchipping appointment is after Memorial Day.

During more normal times, she said, the wait would be around two days.