Pet Registration?

[hairypumper]

The July 8 Evening Star has an article highlighted on the front page that I'm glad was not buried deep in the non-news sections. The president of the DeKalb Humane Society wants the county to charge a registration fee for pets. $15 for fixed pets and $65 for unfixed. That's per year! And he wants the vets to collect the money and do the paper work for him. An unregistered animal showing up at the shelter would cost the owner $100. It seems Mr. Hatfield is either unwilling or unable to raise the money to run the shelter through fundraisers and solicitations. During these times of soaring fuel prices and record foreclosures he wants to enlist the commisioners to pick the pockets of the already overburdened taxpaying pet owners, the vast majority of whom have no need of the shelter. I believe this hairbrained idea will backfire in a big way, and I believe our commisioners will figure that out. People will take pets to out of county vets to avoid the fees, or stop taking them altogether. Rabies and distemper could become a problem. Unregistered pets will not be claimed, driving costs even higher. It's just another case of someone trying to make responsible people pay others irresponsibility.

[miriam]

I am a pet owner and totally agree with Hairy on this. Do you know how much you have to pay now to reclaim a lost pet from the shelter, if any? I am also wondering if the previous director of the shelter had these same money problems. I know the shelter always needs more funds but what has changed from the time the old director retired to now? To tell you the truth I would be tempted to NOT register my pet and take my pet to an out-of-town vet. If I were a vet located in the city limits I would not be in favor of this new ordinace. Also, what services would I be receiving in return for my registration fee?

[matt_s]

We had a pet registration in a county I have previously lived and worked in. 1 time fee, not yearly. Base rate for the first pet and an incremental charge for each additional. It basically committed the owner to agree to basic living conditions for their pets and agree to quantities if they were within the city limits. In consideration of this, the county only charged $10 if animal control caught the animal. The charge was $100 or so if it wasn't registered. The humane society contracted with the county for boarding of animals from Animal Control. If it was turned in to the humane society by an individual or vet, there was no charge for registered pets and basically the cost of registration for any unregistered pets.

This law had been on the books in this country for as long as they had an animal control officer. This was put into effect to pay for the addition of that service at that time. It also provided for noise ordinance enforcement and property damage enforcement by the police as well as the handling of living conditions/environmental complaints. This in no way paid for these services, but it did help defray the costs of part of an officer's time to handle these duties.

Just about everywhere I have been, the Humane Society / Animal Shelter is an independent public non-profit organization, not a city/county service. It may have a county mandate and board of directors, but it is not an operating division of the county. Sometimes they contract their services to the county/city for animal control. I'm not sure what the set-up is here, but I'm not sure that I think the county should be forcing payment to a non-governmental entity if that is the case.

If the regulation is set up properly as I believe it was where I previously lived, I don't really have a problem with the ordinance. But, if it is merely a fund raiser without the provision of additional services, then I have a problem with it.

[jennyk]

I'm not defending the shelter, nor am I saying that they're wrong. I covered the meetings when the humane society came to the commissioners and when they talked to the council.

Mr. Hatfield said that the shelter has been doing the same fundraising as they have been, but a lot of their costs (including gas for their truck, trash pickup and insurance premiums) have skyrocketed, and their donations are way down because of the economic situation. (It is that way with most charities, I believe.) Mr. Hatfield said that he and the humane society board looked at what other cities and counties are doing (especially Fort Wayne) and based their suggestions off of that. He also didn't say that he necessarily wanted the vets to collect the fees - he (or one of the other humane society representatives there) said that many do it in Fort Wayne, voluntarily. It would be wise, I think, to find out how this system works in Fort Wayne and other areas. Do people refuse to pay? Do they not register their animals? Do people avoid going to the vet, or drive out of town (which I expect could cost you the $15 in gas, depending on where you go and how often you have to go to the vet)? Would people opt for the $30 lifetime registration for spayed/neutered and microchipped pets?

Mr. Hatfield also said that another alternative, an SPCA-type system, would most likely cost the taxpayers more.

I will say that, personally, I appreciate the shelter very much, because we adopted a wonderful cat from there a little over a month ago. (I could gush all day about what a great, cute little cat she is, but I'll spare you.) I think there are a lot of good things going on there, and they do a lot for DeKalb County to keep loose animals under control. That being said, I don't know if the registration fee is the right answer or not, nor do I really have an opinion on it.

What do people think of the idea of limiting the number of animals one household can have? I believe in Fort Wayne, a household can have a maximum of 7 animals, with only five being dogs, and all but one have to be spayed or neutered. Mr. Hatfield said that some residences in DeKalb County have 12-15 dogs.

[HomeyG]

We had a pet registration in a county I have previously lived and worked in. 1 time fee, not yearly. Base rate for the first pet and an incremental charge for each additional. It basically committed the owner to agree to basic living conditions for their pets and agree to quantities if they were within the city limits. In consideration of this, the county only charged $10 if animal control caught the animal. The charge was $100 or so if it wasn't registered. The humane society contracted with the county for boarding of animals from Animal Control. If it was turned in to the humane society by an individual or vet, there was no charge for registered pets and basically the cost of registration for any unregistered pets.

This law had been on the books in this country for as long as they had an animal control officer. This was put into effect to pay for the addition of that service at that time. It also provided for noise ordinance enforcement and property damage enforcement by the police as well as the handling of living conditions/environmental complaints. This in no way paid for these services, but it did help defray the costs of part of an officer's time to handle these duties.

Just about everywhere I have been, the Humane Society / Animal Shelter is an independent public non-profit organization, not a city/county service. It may have a county mandate and board of directors, but it is not an operating division of the county. Sometimes they contract their services to the county/city for animal control. I'm not sure what the set-up is here, but I'm not sure that I think the county should be forcing payment to a non-governmental entity if that is the case.

If the regulation is set up properly as I believe it was where I previously lived, I don't really have a problem with the ordinance. But, if it is merely a fund raiser without the provision of additional services, then I have a problem with it.

I believe that fifty cents of the dog tax collected by township trustees goes toward the Humane Shelter. Adding a so called registration fee is no more than an additional tax. I have no problem paying appropriate charges if my pet has been turned over to the shelter, but I shouldn't have to pay for others that are irresponsible. Tomorrow I'm going to contact my DeKalb County councilman that I'm in opposition to any additional registration fees. I'm not one to make a monetary donations; however, tomorrow I'm going to go buy some dog and cat food for the shelter.

[matt_s]

Most communities that have residential pet population cap also have a kennel allowance that would allow people to pay a fee to register as a commercial kennel in order to bread animals.

I've always found the numbers that these caps are based on to be arbitrary at best. So I can't say that I'm all that much in favor of them. Now if the cap were based on something like square-footage per X pounds of full grown pets, I'd probably be "more ok" with it. But an arbitrary number to me is just pointless.

Some people like to hunt. I know two different households who have at least 5 dogs just for a variety of different hunting applications.

[matt_s]

Tomorrow I'm going to contact my DeKalb County councilman that I'm in opposition to any additional registration fees.

Thank you for taking an active interest and an active roll in your community government. People like you are why the system works (on the occasions that it does).

[hairypumper]

DeKalb has 2 different kennel taxes, minor is up to a certain number, (I believe 10) and major is basically unlimitted. They are like 20 and 30 dollars I think. Limits in town are one thing, but in the country you have a completely different situation. Most farms have barn cats to help keep rat and mouse populations down. If barn cats are exempted then the arguement could be made that dogs are used to protect livestock from coyotes. So how are you going to differentiate between pets and working animals? Many people in the country have horses for pets, and goats, and ducks, and llamas, etc. Who will decide, and what will be the criteria for what is or is not a pet?

[evilkumquat]

This reminds me (in a small way) of when Angola passed the "Landlord Registration" ordinance a few years ago.

Rental owners who did not register (and pay a yearly fee) were also subject to fines. The initial suggested ordinance also allowed for city officials to personally inspect the rental units, an act which just SCREAMS "police state" as such inspections were basically the government performing illegal searches of private dwellings (see Fourth Amendment). Eventually, the ordinance was "watered down" (as Mayor Hickman deemed it) and passed before being quickly forgotten (and repealed this year, I think).

The whole thing started back then because of the poor conditions of one rental unit (and possibly the somewhat overzealous reporting of a certain reporter who is no longer with the paper after some rather interesting aspects of that reporter's personal behavior came to light).

My point is, was there some horrific act that started this Animal Registration Act brouhaha, or is this just the Humane Shelter's administer trying to "think outside the box"? Either way, it seems an infringement upon pet owners' rights.

[hairypumper]

I think it is a knee-jerk reaction to the economic pressures we are all having to deal with right now.

[louella]

First of all I think that this will cause more grief for the Dekalb County Humane shelter than anything. One example is not everyone will be able to pay the fees therefore leaving thier pets at the humane shelter causing over population. Second of all how can this only be limited to cats and dogs? Does this shelter only care for cats and dogs? I mean most shelters also have birds, hamsters, ferretts, rabbitts, and many diffrent kinds of animals. Third we are all under finacial strain in one way or the other. The price of gas, groceries, land taxes, and know trying to make us pay for having a cat or a dog. I personally have two cats, and they are well taken care of. I all ready pay for litter, food, vet bills and know to say oh you have to pay a yearly registration fee also.

Instead of doing a pet registration maybe the community needs to get together and do some type of fund raiser. Thier has to be another solution.

[HomeyG]

As promised in my previous post, I took over some dog and cat food. It wasn't much compared to what they need. Didn't have a chance to talk to the Shelter president but I did talk to those who probably knows more of whats going on, the staff. First let me say they are doing an admirable job under austere conditions. The kennel is overflowing with dogs, cats, and other kinds of unwanted pets. My understanding is that they took in over 75 pets last month. I had an opportuntity to present our concerns as taxpapers and pet owners. They realize times are tough, but again, so is their situation. I asked what happens to the money that our township trustees collect. Its their understanding that fee is no longer charged. And now that I think about it I don't remember paying it this year. I told them that we had no idea that they were in financial trouble. Told them they need to get the word out. Like all non-for-profit organizations they need to learn how to tug on the heartstrings of all DeKalb County residents. I'm going to try to do whatever I can, whenever I can. Singlely it might not be much, collectively we can solve their problems.

[HomeyG]

This is for Matt and James. Maybe this is a human-interest story for KPC.
How about the other counties, are they any better off then DeKalb? Maybe going public will provide some solutions.

[hairypumper]

You are to be commended HomeyG. I agree with what you are saying about getting the word out. I tried to pay dog tax and was told the Trustee knew nothing about it. (Not in those exact words). I would have no problem paying a pet tax, as I have in the past, as long as it was not per pet. And don't try to tell people how many they can have.

[denali]

The animal shelters in this area are in desperate need now and have been for as long as I can remember. They need volunteers, foster homes, money, and anything that we can do to help them.
Want to lose weight stop by the shelter and walk dogs for an hour or two, have some love to share take home a cat or a dog to foster until they can find a home for them. Having a party, have your guests bring dog food to donate to the shelter, don't know what to get for someone as a gift donate some money to the shelter in their name, don't need any more gifts ask that your loved ones donate money to the shelter in your name.
Want to find the love of your life, visit your shelter and adopt an animal that is waiting for you. Do not buy animals from breeders, pet stores, etc.
Have your animal spayed or neutered. If you can't afford it call your shelter and ask if they will help you pay for it if you volunteer some time to them.
Our shelters do a wonderful job and they need our support. IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO RUN AN ANIMAL SHELTER.

[hairypumper]

I have a serious issue with people who tell others not to buy from breeders. Denali, do you want a few hundred more dogs at the shelter? And don't you dare try to lump reputable breeders in with pet stores. Reputable breeders don't sell to pet stores. We fostered a dog from the shelter. It's a good dog, but it don't hunt. If you just want a companion, by all means go to the shelter. Spend some time there helping out and getting to know the critters, then let one pick you. If you want a dog for a specific purpose, do what the police and military do, work with a reputable breeder. Most animals at the shelter are wonderful, but some may have issues that don't come to light right away. A puppy you get from a reputable breeder is what you make it, a dog you get from the shelter may or may not be.

[LeeStreet]

FYI. http://www.in.gov/dlgf/files/Memo_Co...tionDogTax.pdf

[miriam]

After reading the memorandum Lee Street directed me to I came away with two interesting points. The first is that a dog tax can't exceed $5 per year and that 20% of all money collected by a dog tax must be given to Purdue University for research. Did I read it correctly?

[jennyk]

After reading the memorandum Lee Street directed me to I came away with two interesting points. The first is that a dog tax can't exceed $5 per year and that 20% of all money collected by a dog tax must be given to Purdue University for research. Did I read it correctly?

As far as I understand (from sitting in on county council meetings where they discussed this), you are right, Miriam. However, the pet registration that is being proposed is NOT the same thing as a dog tax, which the council discussed and rejected earlier this year. As far as I remembered, one of the things that people were upset about was the fact that cats would not be covered under the dog tax. They would be making up a different ordinance altogether for the pet registration, and it wouldn't be at all related to the dog tax, as I understand it.

[james_t]

Editorial in today's Evening Star:

We’re getting the message loud and clear that many people would howl if DeKalb County enacted a tax on dogs and cats.

Which is fine, as long as they suggest a better way to pay for the control of hundreds of stray dogs and cats in our communities.

http://www.fwdailynews.com/articles/...d96ad052a9.txt