Mayor Gene Zick proposed the idea to his council Tuesday saying this would help control the unwanted animal population in the city as well as help find funding for the Logan County Humane Society which suffered a cut of $7,200 annually from the city’s 2010-2011 budget.
Code enforcement officer Hope Strode presented the idea saying, “The goal is to have the program to be in place by August 1, this year, giving citizens 90 days to license
their animals. This will be an annual license with the year running from July 1 to June 30 the following year. This is just a proposal and can be altered by the council,” said Strode.
The proposal calls for a fee of $10 for an altered (spayed or neutered) dog or cat and $40 for an unaltered dog or cat, the goal being to gain control over the animal population.
Zick said he and Strode met with members of the Humane Society on Monday about the proposal.
“We asked the the Humane Society if they would handle the license program by managing the records, taking applications and collecting the fees,” said Zick.
The city will furnish the Humane Society with the tags, a computer and the license application to administrate the program. At the time they license the animal owners will be required to show proof of rabies vaccination and proof that the animal is spayed or neutered.
Zick said cities all over are adopting this program to control their population.
“Bowling Green has been mandating this for some time,” said Zick.
Humane Society board member Gail Guiling is a little skeptical about the idea saying she doesn’t know how much it will help because it is hard to enforce the program. “Getting the people to license their pet will be difficult,” said Guiling who is worried it will not generate enough funds to offset the budget cut the city exposed on the Humane Society.
Zick told Guiling and his council Tuesday that the Humane Society would still get their funding and that the license fee would be deducted from that $7,200 as progress appeared.
A fine of $100 is also being considered in the proposal for those animals who are found not to be licensed.
“If a dog or cat is picked up and an owner comes to reclaim it they will be fined if their pet is not licensed,” said Zick.
Councilman Lanny McPherson said he would like to see that money generated from the fee go towards the city hiring its own animal control officer.
“The county has one person to cover 700 miles. It is my hope that if we ever went down this road we could have our own animal control officer. The county has to maintain a shelter and the animals we pick up they would have to take,” said McPherson adding, “The Humane Society’s goal is to rescue animals. Our goal is to control them.”
Councilman Jimmy Davenport, who was in favor of keeping the funding for the Humane Society wondered if the licensing fee would only target those who do not let their pets roam, but instead are responsible owners.
Zick said the idea can be discussed in more detail at a future meeting after the council has time to think about it.
As far as your comment on this law preventing diseases, whatever…people that care about their animals already keep them vaccinated and up to date on their shots, others that don’t aren’t going to start just because there’s a new law in affect. This law isn’t going to change any of that…come back to the real world. They will just let the animal end up in the shelter or let it go, before they have to be forced to adhere to the law.
Now since you seem so fond of pushing the fee because of what you see on a regular trip to the rescue farms, I want you to know that I do agree with you about something needs to be done. I have volunteered at animal shelters and seen the same things (it is heartbreaking). I do respect what our Humane Society is trying to do and I’m glad they are doing what they can, but I don’t see that this fee will actually help them, it will hurt them. I have rescued several animals from shelters (most being kill shelters) and wouldn’t have rescued as many if I had to pay an additional yearly fee to do so. Many people feel the same way that I do, they just won’t speak up and say it. Watch this pass and then watch the effect that it has on our Humane Society…it’ll be overcrowded again & none will get adopted.
The community needs to get together and figure out a different approach. Try informing the community on a larger scale of what really happens to these unwanted animals, then work with the local vets in trying to convince pet owners to have their animals spay/neutered. More than just signs posted everywhere…most people don’t read them anyways. Discounts always work!
It shouldn't just be for the city though, it should be for the entire county. I think they would be smart to make it $5 for each altered (spayed or neutered) dog, and $10 for each unaltered dog.
It could work to encourage those with pets to spay or neuter, cutting down on the population of unwanted pets that wind up in the shelter in the first place.
It doesn't punish responsible pet owners, as previously mentioned, a responsible pet owner should be welcoming this, as it will help prevent their animals from being exposed to diseases that can be deadly.
The Humane Society is trying to maintain a no-kill shelter. If $5-$10 a dog helps them accomplish that, then there is no reason not to support this.
No, I don't work for the city, county, animal control, the humane society or any other entity, I'm just a responsible pet owner, who does rescue work, and dog transports for rescues. I see way too many dogs who suffer because of people who don't care.
I think there are a few things that need to be changed, such as animal control. They should be available anytime day or night, year round, to answer calls about animals that are in danger or being hit by cars (loose) or causing problems. No citizen should ever be told to catch the offending animal and hold it until animal control can show up (which is the case quite often right now).
As for the complaints about the way the Humane Society handles their records, you can visit their website and sign up to volunteer to help them get things organized.
There are two types of people in this world. Those that complain, but do nothing to change things, and those that go out and make a difference. Which one are you?
The economy is bad already bad enough without this. Yeah 10.00 for a altered animal is a small fee but not alter 40. The ecomomy is bad already and to have another bill to pay is just plain crazy!
Why not forget the $100,000 that's allocated to the "AG Arena"(which will only benefit a handful of people since Dream Riders pulled out) and put that money back into the budget for the city? Or look into the payroll budget a little closer…it’s hard to justify our tax dollars getting spent for people to sit around and gossip on the clock (who really runs this town?), if you look around there are plenty of jobs that could be cut down to part-time positions, which would not only save on salary, but insurance & 401K. DUH!
Keep passing laws that negatively affect the citizens that follow the laws everyday, pay their bills, & support this community to the best of their ability and you will have a problems. It’s time for you to stop bullying the honest , hard workers of this community and start supporting them. Tax yourself & the “ ” rich!