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Commissioners revise animal license fees 7/14/04 Clallam County commissioners have decided to scale back the prices for licenses under the county’s new animal control ordinance, hoping lower fees will encourage people to not only license their pets, but to get them spayed or neutered. The county is imposing the new license prices under the new animal control agreement with the Clallam County Humane Society. The objective is to not only increase the number of pets that are licensed, but to raise the revenue necessary to pay for animal control services. However, some of the new prices would have been as much as 3-hundred percent higher than the current license fees. During a public meeting on Tuesday, pet owners told county commissioners they were worried the higher prices could actually discourage people from getting licenses, and especially to have their pets “altered” to control animal populations. Commissioners agreed that could be the case, and proposed a new fee schedule. Instead of a $15 license fee for “altered” animals, the commissioners pulled those prices back to $8 for spayed or neutered cats and $10 for dogs that have been “fixed”. However, “non-altered” cats or dogs will still be subject to a $35 license fee. Commissioner Mike Chapman tells PNN he feels the new license fee schedule is a “good compromise”. Plus, he says the animal control advisory committee will be looking into the idea of setting up a system of vouchers which could help lower income pet owners to defray the cost of spaying or neutering their animals. County officials estimate that less than 600 animals were licensed in the past year. There could be as many as 20,000 pets needing licenses throughout the county. RELATED STORY: Clallam: Cat licensing required in new county animal ordinance A new Clallam County animal code requires the licensing of cats and increases license fees intended to encourage owners to spay or neuter their pets. County commissioners on Tuesday approved new animal licensing fees and a new animal code after public hearings drew support from county animal welfare representatives. The annual license fees were set at $10 for altered dogs and $8 for altered cats. For unaltered animals, the fee is $35 a year, as approved by the commissioners. The new code requires that all dogs and cats of six months or older be licensed. Ann Gilson, county Animal Issues Advisory Committee chairwoman, voiced support for a fee structure that would penalize those who do not alter their pets ``because they are the ones who cost the county.'' ``All of us feels that one of the most important things is to get the animals licensed and altered,'' Gilson told the commissioners. Enforcement an issue The annual license fee for many years has been set at $5 and enforcement has been a major issue. The Clallam County Humane Society, which recently took over animal
control services from the county, is expected to promote animal licensing
as a means of generating more revenues for the cash-strapped animal
welfare organization.
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