PROPOSED ANIMAL LICENSE AND
IMPOUND FEES INCREASES
CBJ Resolution 2809
The CBJ Assembly accepted our
request to delay adoption of the
proposed animal control services
fees until the Assembly’s next
regular meeting on Monday,
October 16. The Assembly
deferred action on the proposed
fees so that the public can
review and comment on the
proposals.
Here is a link to information
about the substance of proposal:
https://packet.cbjak.org/AttachmentViewer.ashx?AttachmentID=7960&ItemID=4523
Grateful Dogs of Juneau has reviewed the proposed changes to the animal control fees and is recommending the following changes to the proposal currently before the
Assembly:
·
Impound-boarding fees be set at
a flat rate for all dogs
regardless of the dog’s
reproductive status.
·
Impound-boarding fees for
dangerous, potentially
dangerous, and bite-quarantine
animals be set at a flat rate
for all dogs regardless of the
dog’s reproductive status.
·
Impound-boarding fees be imposed
after the first 24 hours
following the impound.
·
A kennel registration
requirement not be a
prerequisite for group dog
licenses.
·
The group dog license fee be
raised to $6.50 per dog.
·
Fees for Animal Control Services
be set by either ordinance or
regulation rather than by
resolution.
_______________________
The rationale underlying these
recommendations are discussed
below.
COMMENTS REGARDING PROPOSED
CHANGES TO CBJ ANIMAL CONTROL
SERVICES FEES. (CBJ
Resolution 2809)
The current animal services
control fees have been in effect
since 2001. Since that time,
the cost of everything has
increased. Fee increases are to
be expected.
Nonetheless, the proposed
changes deserve careful
consideration. Not only are the
amount of fees being changed,
the structure of the fees are
being significantly altered.
Key issues raised by the
proposed fee increases are as
follows:
LICENSE TRANSFER FEE.
The $2.50 fee for transfer of a
dog license is repealed.
IMPOUND FEE.
The impound fee for the first
and second offense in a calendar
year is raised from $30 and $50
to $50 and $60 respectively.
IMPOUND-BOARDING FEES.
The most significant changes to
the fee schedule involves the
impound-boarding fees – the fees
charged for boarding impounded
animals before the animal is
reclaimed by its owner. The
current fees are $10 per day
until the animal’s owner is
contacted; once the owner has
been contacted, the
impound-boarding fee increases
to $15 per day. The proposed
fee schedule would significantly
increase impound-boarding fees –
300% to 800%.
The proposed impound-boarding
fees creates a unique sliding
fee schedule based on the
reproductive status of the
animal. Altered
(spayed/neutered) animals pay
the lowest fee, unaltered
(intact) animals would pay a
higher fee, and animals in
season would pay an even higher
fee.
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU: The
information provided by CBJ does
not explain why the cost of
boarding an animal varies with
the reproductive status of the
animal. Our research shows
that no other major community in
Alaska sets impound-boarding
fees based on an animal’s
reproductive status.
It is not always easy to
determine whether a dog has been
neutered. For male dogs there
are new nonsurgical techniques
for sterilizing males that does
not involve castration, so the
traditional procedure of
determining the presence or
absence of testicles is no
longer a guaranteed method for
determined whether a dog has
been neutered. It is more
complicated to determine whether
a female has been neutered. The
presence of an abdominal spay
scar is the usual evidence of a
spay, but it is not entirely
reliable. Depending on the
technique used in performing the
spay, a spay scar will be more
or less visible. A spay scar
will become more difficult to
see over time. Scars from a
laparoscopic spay could be
virtually impossible to see. The
ability to see a spay scar also
varies with skill of the person
doing the examination, the
conditions under which the
examination occurs, and the
willingness of the dog to be
examined. Dogs with thick coats
will be more difficult to
examine for the presence of a
spay scar.
A simple flat fee for
impound-boarding fees is most
appropriate for Juneau unless a
reasonable justification can be
provided to support the proposed
sliding scale fee structure. A
flat rate impound-boarding fee
structure will simplify the
administration and collection of
the fee and reduce the workload
on Animal Control staff who are
already very busy.
New impound-boarding fee
schedules are also proposed for
dangerous dogs and
bite-quarantines for dogs and
cats. The fees for bite
quarantine impounds are also
subject to a sliding fee
schedules based on reproductive
status of the animal. The
impound-boarding fee for an
in-season animal will be 800% of
the current impound-boarding
fee.
The impound-boarding fee for
dangerous dogs is a simple flat
rate ($50 per day) regardless of whether the dog is
neutered, intact, or in season.
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU: If a
sliding scale fee structure
based on reproductive status for
impound-boarding fees is not
appropriate for dangerous dogs,
then why would such a sliding
fee be appropriate for
bite-quarantine animals? Animal
Control designates dogs as
dangerous based on their past
behavior. Dogs impounded for
bite-quarantine are not
necessarily dangerous dogs.
Unless a reasonable
justification can be shown that
bite-quarantine dogs need to be
treated differently from
dangerous dogs, a simple uniform
flat rate impound boarding fee
is recommended for
bite-quarantines and dangerous
dogs.
The impound-boarding fee is
imposed from the moment that a
dog is impounded for each day or
part of a day that the dog is in
the shelter.
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU: By
imposing an impound-boarding fee
from the moment that an animal
is impounded, the cost of
reclaiming an animal from Animal
Control will be substantially
increased for most animals which
are quickly reclaimed by their
owners. Even animals that are
held for a few hours without an
overnight stay in the pound are
liable for the impound-boarding
fee, as well as the impound
fee. Thus to reclaim a dog
that is immediately picked up by
its owners from the pound, the
owners would be subject to at
least the $50 impound fee for a
first time impound and the $30
basic impound-boarding fee. The
total cost of reclaiming their
dog would be a minimum of $80.
To avoid the imposition of such
high fees to reclaim a lost pet
that has been impounded for a
short period, the
impound-boarding fee should not
be imposed until the dog has
been impounded for at least 24
hours. The delayed imposition
of the impound-boarding fee
would give a pet owner a grace
period of 24 hours to recover
their pet without incurring the
impound-boarding fee.
The current fee schedule
provides that the
impound-boarding fee increases
after the owner of the animal is
informed that the animal has
been impounded. This provision
provides an incentive to Animal
Control to promptly notify
owners that their animal is in
the custody of Animal Control.
The proposed changes being
considered by the CBJ Assembly
would eliminate the incentive
for Animal Control to contact
owners.
GROUP LICENSE FEE.
The group license fee allows a
person with 6 or more dogs to
obtain licenses for their dogs
at a reduced fee of $5 per dog. The
proposed changes to the group
license fee would impose a
requirement that the group be
registered as a kennel.
Currently, there
is no existing procedure for
registering kennels. A
registration process would have
to be established to implement
the registration requirement.
It is probably not cost
effective to establish a kennel
registration process for the
limited amount of revenue
generated by the group license
fee. A kennel registration
requirement would also
discourage these animal owners from
licensing their dogs.
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU: A
kennel registration requirement
is not an appropriate
prerequisite for group dog
licenses.
The group license fee is $5 per
dog. That fee has not changed
since it was established in
2001. Dog license fees for
other dog owners were increased
last year by 20-40 %. If the
group dog license fee was
increased by a similar amount,
the group license fee would be
about $6.50 per dog.
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU: The
fee for a group dog license can be raised
to $6.50 per dog in order to
maintain parity with fees for
other dog licenses.
* * *
PROCESS FOR SETTING ANIMAL
CONTROL SERVICES FEES.
Municipal ordinance provides
that animal control services
fees be set by Assembly
resolution. However, the
resolution adoption process does
not include substantive public
notice and opportunity to
comment on proposed fee
changes. Because there was not
an opportunity to review and
comment on the proposed animal
control service fees before the
fees were presented to the
Assembly at the September
meeting, Grateful Dogs of Juneau
requested that Assembly action
on the proposed fees be deferred
in order for the public to have
an opportunity to comment.
Public notice and opportunity to
comment are fundamental elements
of the ordinance adoption
process and the regulation
adoption process. If the
proposed animal control fees had
been proposed through the
ordinance or regulation process,
public notice and opportunity to
comment would have been
assured.
Animal control services fees
affect 1000’s of Juneau
households that have dogs, cats,
and other animals. These
households deserve an
opportunity to be informed of
proposed fees changes that will
affect them. By abandoning the
resolution process for setting
animal control fees in favor of
a more open ordinance adoption
process or regulation adoption
process, the Assembly can avoid
future instances where the
Assembly must delay action on
agenda items to provide the
public an opportunity to
familiarize itself with an issue
before the Assembly. Increased
public involvement in animal
control services matters before
they come to the Assembly will
facilitate an efficient Assembly
process and promote public
understanding and support for
10hose matters.
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU: The
adoption of Animal Control
Services fees by ordinance or
regulation is preferable to the
current procedure of adopting
those fees by Assembly
resolution. It is important
that the public have advanced
notice and 50portunity to
comment on proposed animal
control services fees before
they are adopted by CBJ. The
ordinance and regulation adoption
processes both provide the
appropriate notice and
opportunity to comment. The
process for adopt of Assembly
resolutions does not provide
adequate notice and opportunity
to comment.
If you have any comments
regarding the proposed changes
to license fees, please contact
the city manager or an Assembly
member as soon as possible this
coming week. After Thursday
night it may be too late to have
your say incorporated into the
packet provided to Assembly
members for the meeting next
week (October 16).
Contact:
Assistant City Manager
Mila
Cosgrove:
Mila.Cosgrove@juneau.org
Contact Assembly Members:
Mayor Ken
Koelsch
Ken.Koelsch@juneau.org
Jerry Nankervis
Jerry.Nankervis@juneau.org
Maria
Gladziszewski
Maria.Gladziszewski@juneau.org
Norton Gregory
Norton.Gregory@juneau.org
Mary Becker
Mary.Becker@juneau.org
Loren Jones
Loren.Jones@juneau.org
Jesse
Kiehl
Jesse.Kiehl@juneau.org
Beth Weldon
Beth.Weldon@juneau.org
======================================================
ADDITIONAL ISSUES RAISED BY THE
CBJ ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES
FEES, GENERALLY.
DOG LICENSE LATE FEES.
The exemptions from the late
fees for dog licenses and
special licenses for dangerous
and potentially dangerous dogs
must be rewritten so that the
provisions relating to dog
owners who relocate to Juneau
are comprehensible.
For
example: “A late fee of $15.00
shall be added to the license
fee for any license issued after
March 31st unless . . . the
owner relocated to the City and
Borough within 30 days
immediately prior to that date
[???].”
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU:
Given this language, it is
impossible to determine when
a new resident of Juneau
must pay a late fee to
license his dog after March
31.
IMPOUND FEE. The impound
fee varies with the number of
times that a dog is impounded
within a calendar year. A dog
that has been impounded four or
more times in a calendar year
pays an impound fee or $100 per
incident.
The
escalating fee schedule for
multiple impounds is an
incentive for dog owners to
maintain control of their dogs
so that their dogs do not run at
large. However, a repeat
offender gets a fresh start at
the beginning of each calendar
year, even though the dog may
have been impounded numerous
times in the preceding month.
By calculating the amount of
the impound fee based on the
number of times that a dog has
been impounded within a calendar
year, the escalating fee
schedule for repeat impounds
loses much of its value as a
deterrent.
If a
dog is being impounded
repeatedly, then the fee for
repeated impounds should be
based on the impound history of
the dog for the previous 12
months and not during the
current calendar year.
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU: It
is recommended that the amount
of the impound fee be based on
the number of impounds within
the preceding 12 months instead
of the number of impounds within
a calendar year.
REDUCED DOG LICENSE FEES FOR
CERTAIN DOGS OVER 6 MONTHS OF
AGE.
CBJ
provides that neutered male and
female dogs over 6 months are
eligible for a reduced dog
license fee. In the last 20
years veterinary research has
shown that for large breed dogs
(ie,
St.
Bernards,
Great Danes, Golden Retrievers,
German Shepherds, etc.), which
do not mature until 12 – 24
months of age, neutering prior
to maturity adversely affects
their health and longevity, by
increasing their susceptibility
to canine cancers and orthopedic
injuries. The health risks
associated with early neutering
are largely avoided by delaying
neutering until the dog has
reached maturity. The usual
measure of maturity is the age
at which the growth plates in
the long bones of the legs have
sealed. Because different
breeds achieve maturity at
different ages, the ideal age
for neutering varies with each
breed. By denying a reduced dog
license fee for unneutered dogs
over 6 months of age,
CBJ
is encouraging dog owners to
prematurely neuter large breed
dogs to the long term detriment
of the dog.
GRATEFUL DOGS OF JUNEAU:
CBJ should adopt a dog license
fee schedule that does not
materially and adversely affect
the dogs that it licenses, by
allowing large breed dogs to be
licensed at a reduced fee until
the dog reaches an appropriate
age to be neutered.
Understandably, it may be
difficult to establish and
administer a dog license fee
schedule that varies with the
breed or parentage of the dog.
However, Grateful Dogs of Juneau
is prepared to cooperate with
the CBJ in developing a
functional and workable system
for dog license fees that
promotes the long term health of
dogs in the community by not
promoting the pre-mature
neutering of large breed dogs.
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