Pet licenses not wildly popular

Spokane Valley City Councilman Richard Munson loves his springer spaniel Bailey, but he doesn’t have much compassion for people who don’t license their pets.

If you’re one of them, you might consider making Rover legal before you’re slapped with a $200 fine.

Munson and other council members are frustrated that the city pays Spokane County more than $1,000 a day for animal control services. The council, along with Spokane County Regional Animal Control and Protection Services (SCRAPS) Director Nancy Hill, wants more pet owners to pay licensing fees to help cover the department’s costs.

Now, with 2005 contract negotiations coming up this fall, the city has an opportunity to ask SCRAPS to crack down on delinquent pet owners.

“Licensing is an expectation and a responsibility, but sometimes the only way you can (get compliance) is to put a cost to it,” Munson said.

SCRAPS kicked off a licensing campaign last October, but the number of people responding hasn’t met Hill’s goals. She estimated that fewer than 50 percent of dogs and 20 percent of cats in Spokane County are licensed.

Hill modeled the program after one launched in Calgary, Alberta, that netted that city a compliance rate of more than 90 percent. The attitudes toward pet ownership are different in Canada, where dog parks are prevalent and people pay attention to pet rules, she said.

“They’re taking pet ownership more seriously than maybe we do,” Hill said.

Compounding SCRAPS’ struggle to get more pets licensed is the growing number of animals they handle. The department is on track to care for almost 8,000 animals by January, which would be an all-time high, Hill said.

SCRAPS charges between $13 and $48 to license animals. If licenses expire and pet owners don’t renew, they’re charged a late fee of $20 for dogs and $10 for cats. In addition, pet owners can be cited and face a $200 fine.

But SCRAPS rarely cites people who voluntarily renew licenses, even if they’re late. As an incentive to make more animals legal, there are fliers circulating now that act as coupons that forgive pet owners of late fees.

Rarely does SCRAPS canvass the neighborhoods looking for unlicensed animals, Hill said. Before that tactic is taken, the department would study the cost benefit of doing that, she said.

Councilman Steve Taylor wants SCRAPS to take a more aggressive approach.

“Once the word gets out that there is a coordinated enforcement effort under way, I think people will finally have that incentive to have their animals licensed,” he said.

Neither Munson nor Taylor said they expected pet owners to pay 100 percent of the cost of animal control, but they said it isn’t fair for taxpayers – whether they have animals or not – to pay as much as they are.

“I think the significant majority of the funds should be shouldered by the pet owners,” Munson said. “They’re the ones that cause the problems by not taking care of their pets.”

There’s little doubt that the city will contract with SCRAPS for animal control services again next year. The city has opened up two other 2005 contracts to competition from noncounty providers, but it wanted to give SCRAPS time to explore a new option before pitting other animal control providers against it. Munson said the city could open up the competition for the 2006 animal control contract.

That new option being explored now is forming a regional agency that handles animal control for the entire Spokane area. The regional option likely would cost Spokane Valley less, Hill said. It also likely would cost more for the city of Spokane, which pays SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. about half as much as Spokane Valley pays SCRAPS for animal control.

A regional animal control committee is ready to analyze the cost of an areawide program, but it’s waiting for the city of Spokane to provide an audit of SpokAnimal’s operation to move forward. SpokAnimal’s director said she hasn’t been asked to provide that information yet. Dave Mandyke, the animal control contact for Spokane, couldn’t be reached to comment on the status of the audit because he is out of the office until Monday.

Munson said he’s happy with the quality of care SCRAPS gives animals, and he’s glad the department has made some gains in licensing.

“I acknowledge they’re making an effort. It’s just that we’ve got to have more success,” Munson said.