County May Resume Door-To-Door Pet Licensing Animal Control Agency Hopes To Boost Lagging Sales

Ding-dong. Animal control calling.

After a one-year hiatus, Spokane County animal control officers may rejoin Girl Scouts and Jehovah’s Witnesses in the door-to-door parade.

Residents in unincorporated areas of the county will be able to buy a pet license without leaving the porch, if county commissioners approve the one-year pilot program today. People who don’t buy a license would have to look a uniformed officer in the eye when they claim they don’t have a dog or cat.

After eight years, the county ended its door-to-door licensing program in 1995. Some customers complained the part-time sales force was heavy-handed.

The canvassers earned $5 an hour plus $1 for each license sold and a bonus for collecting fines.

Since the program ended, pet licensing has dropped off significantly, said animal control Director Nancy Sattin. Her agency collected $65,000 less in 1996 than in 1995.

“We get calls all the time from people saying, ‘When are you coming by, I’ve been waiting to license my pet,”’ said Sattin.

Sattin said the new program would use two full-time officers, who would earn a salary, not commission. Unlike the former canvassers, the officers would wear uniforms and drive a county vehicle.

“It will be a softened approach,” she said.

Based on national statistics, Sattin estimated there are 48,500 cats and 48,000 dogs in unincorporated areas of the county. But only 8,500 cats and 21,000 dogs are licensed; the rest are illegal.

Cat licenses are $4 if the animal is neutered or spayed, $10 if not. Dog licenses are $8.50 and $20.

Sattin said the program would cost about $50,000 this year. The program probably won’t be continued next year if the officers don’t earn their keep, she said.

, DataTimes