Palm Beach County doubles license fees for unneutered dogs

Palm Beach County doubles license fees for unneutered dogs, cats By Josh Hafenbrack
Sun-Sentinel.com
12:21 PM EST, November 20, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH


Taking care of the family dog is about to get more expensive in Palm Beach County.

Pet owners will now face increased charges to keep and license a dog or cat. Among them: County commissioners this morning voted 6-0 to double, to $75, the cost to license a dog or cat that isn't spayed or neutered.

Pat Boyd, president of the Jupiter-Tequesta Dog Club, called the new
$75 fee for un-neutered dog and cats "outrageous."

"It's twice or almost three times the amount I paid for my automobile license," she said. "It will not help the problem. It will decrease the number of people who are in compliance with licensing their animals."

But Kay Lynette-Roca, executive director of the Safe Harbor no-kill shelter in Jupiter, said the fee is a pittance considering it could help reduce pet overpopulation.

"$75 – dinner and a movie," she said. "I don't know what all the stink is about. The fact is we are killing animals because there aren't enough homes to go around."

Getting a tag to own a dangerous dog breed, such as a pit bull, now will come with a first-ever $100 surcharge, and fees of $100 will be imposed if animal control officers have to respond to complaints involving the pets.

Pet owners who use county vaccination services face minor increases:
Rabies shots increase from $5 to $15, and euthanasia fees go from $20 to $30.

Dog sitters and pet daycare operators for the first time face charges to license their businesses -- $50 and $100, respectively.

The new charges take effect Jan. 1.

In all, the changes are projected to generate about $500,000 a year, revenues that will offset budget cuts to the Animal Care & Control Department that were imposed because of state-ordered property tax reductions.

The fees, while controversial, are just a preview of a bigger fight to come next month, when commissioners hold public hearings on an ordinance that would require dog and cat owners to spay or neuter their pets.


Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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Fees for pets may go up in Palm Beach County Increases would bring in $500,000 By Mark Hollis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 20, 2007


Pet lovers be aware: Palm Beach County officials are preparing to impose a long list of new animal control fees.

Higher charges are proposed for rabies vaccinations, redeeming dogs and cats that have been impounded, and for permits to run pet- related businesses such as backyard breeding facilities, kennels and doggie day-care centers.

County commissioners are poised to approve the fee hikes at a meeting that starts at 9:30 a.m. today at the County Governmental Center in West Palm Beach, where officials expect a big crowd and howls of protest from pet breeders.

The new fee schedule would raise an additional $500,000 a year and offset rising county costs of sheltering animals. It's the first major increase to animal control charges since at least 1999.

Critics, including some pet breeders and animal club leaders, say the fee increases will only jack up the costs to legitimate breeders and may dissuade some pet owners from reclaiming their lost animals from shelters or getting pets vaccinated and sterilized.

Dianne Sauve, director of the county's Animal Care and Control division, says the actions are necessary to contend with crowded conditions at animal care facilities and to reduce the numbers of roaming, feral cats.

In the last year alone, the county sheltered more than 27,500 animals. About two-thirds of the animals were euthanized, most of them cats, because owners did not reclaim them, they were sick or dangerous, or there wasn't sufficient space in the county's two animal control facilities.

Next month, commissioners will debate whether to impose Florida's first-ever countywide mandatory spaying and neutering program for all dogs and cats. Two public hearings are scheduled in December.

The fee-hike proposal to be heard today includes a long list of new charges, one of which doubles to $75 the cost of a license to own an unsterilized dog or cat.

Recognizing that most of the calls animal control officers respond to concern dangerous or vicious dogs, many of them pit bulls or similar breeds, county officials are looking to boost charges specific to those dogs. A tag to own such a dog would double to $100, and new fees of $100 would be charged to owners if animal control officers have to investigate an incident involving the pets.

County commissioners have been flooded with mail from breeders angry about the proposals.

"The people who are letting these animals run wild in the streets are not the reputable breeders, it's those who don't want to license their animals anyway, and this [fee schedule] is only increasing the costs for people already in compliance," said Pat Andrews of Boca Raton, president of the Everglades Golden Retriever Club, which has 100 members.

Amy Gordon, of West Palm Beach, raises miniature schnauzers and heads several pet-breeding groups and is the president of the Everglades Terrier Club, a 50-member group. She is opposed to county plans to require those who breed dogs or cats to apply for a permit, which would require paperwork and an inspection of their operations.

"I have no problem with the county regulating a legitimate business like a groomer or pet store, but when it comes just a hobby breeder, with a few dogs and few litters a year, the government doesn't need to be involved," Gordon said.

Sauve said people who run legitimate pet breeding operations or are responsible dog or cat owners will be barely inconvenienced.

"If you're not doing anything wrong, then you don't have anything to fear," Sauve said. "Just come forward, fill out an application, register the animals, and comply with the laws in place right now."

Mark Hollis can be reached at mhollis@... or 561-228-5512.

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