District of Houston staffers have recommended that fees for aggressive dog and dangerous dog licensing increase to reflect increased monitoring of the animals as required under an animal control bylaw which comes into effect Sept. 1.
“The same is true for impounding fees,” staffers wrote in a comprehensive report to council on costs and fees relating to various District services.
“Not only do aggressive and dangerous dogs pose a risk to the safety of animal control staff, they impose a further requirement for staff training to handle these animals in a safe and effective manner.”
The animal control bylaw defines an aggressive dog as one which has aggressively pursued or caused a minor injury to an animal or person.”
It defines “aggressively pursue” as “pursuing an animal or person without provocation and showing aggressive behaviour such as growling or snarling.”
And aggressive dog licence is a red tag imprinted with the name of the municipality, a numerical code registered and granted by the District to the owner of a dog.
An annual aggressive dog licence will cost $80 if paid before Jan. 31 and $100 if after that date while an annual danberous dog licence will cost $160 before Jan. 31 or $200 after.
For a first impoundment of a licensed or aggressive dog, the fee will now be $175. For the first impoundment of an unlicensed dangerous or aggressive dog, the fee will be $250 plus the licensing fee. For second and subsequent impoundments, the fee will be $500 while a daily maintenance fee of $30 will be charged.
But licence and impounding fees for all other dogs will remain the same “in order to avoid a disincentive for licensing a dog with the District.
Licence fees for a spayed or neutured dog will be $12 if paid before Jan. 31 and $15 thereafter will for an unspayed or unneutured dog the annual fee is $32 if paid before Jan. 31 and $40 if paid after that date.
A first impoundment of a licensed dog will cost $30 and $50 if unlicensed plus the licence fee. A second impoundment will cost $45 and third and subsequent impoundments will cost $60. A daily maintenance fee of $11 will be charged.
Resale fees for dogs and small animals will, however, increase when the new bylaw comes into effect.
When it comes to cost recovery of animal control, staffers noted there was an inconsistent level due to the varying nature of the service.
That’s because of differences in the number of dogs impounded in any one year and the resulting staff time required to provide for their care.
“The number of dog licences remains stable at slightly over 100 licences during the study period,” staffers said in reviewing past years. “It is also likely that there are dogs within the municipality that are currently unlicensed; this would require confirmation during enforcement action.”