But My Pet Will Never Run Away (or Why We Need Licenses)
The city I live in just increased its fees for
dog and cat licenses. It's now $30 a year for
unneutered/unsprayed pets and $20 a year for
sprayed/neutered pets.
Even though these are not major dollars, there were
plenty of complaints. Some people consider the
increase (we were at $5) just a way to raise more
money during budget cuts. Some people who keep
their pet - especially their cat - inside all the
time think it is unfair to make them pay at all.
Please remember that licensing your pet has
several benefits for all of us:
1. It ensures that dogs have had their
rabies vaccinations. Rabies is 99.9%
fatal for dogs and humans and requiring
proof of vaccination for a license
protects the entire community. There
are irresponsible owners who might not
do this if it wasn't required.
2. Licenses help cities keep track
of how many pets a person owns and how
many dogs are in the city.
Many cities limit the number of dogs or pets
any one household can have. Again, given the
number of irresponsible or deranged people
out there, this is a necessary limitation
for community health.
3. Licenses tell the animal control
officers that a dog has an owner and isn't
an abandoned or stray dog. In some cities,
unclaimed dogs without licenses are
euthanized in fewer days than dogs with
collars.
4. Licenses may have contact information
about the owner, thus helping reunite
dogs with their owners. If you think
Fido would never bolt out your door
to chase a bike runner or butterfly,
you don't know dogs.
5. Licenses requires collars which enable
owners to include more tags. For
example, you can note any serious illnesses
your dog has (e.g., diabetes) or note on
the tag that you guarantee payment of
emergency medical bills for your dog.
6. License fees help pay for local
animal shelters and animal control officers.
Yes, my city's increase is driven by
budget cuts and thank goodness, my city
is progressive enough to find the money
to maintain our animal control department.
7. License fees help motivate owners to
have sprayed/neutered dogs through the
cost reduction. If owners aren't planning
to show or breed dogs, having the dogs
sprayed or neutered is a health benefit
for the animals.
No one likes taxes or fees, but sometimes
they do have good reasons to exist.
Louise Louis is a long-time dog person
and operates http://www.ToyBreeds.com
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