By Andrew de Souza

SPCA unhappy with licensing fees

Dec 14, 2010 | 12:13 PM

The Prince Albert SPCA says they’re unhappy with last minute changes to a new pet ownership bylaw made by Prince Albert Mayor Jim Scarrow regarding pet licensing fees.

The new Responsible Pet Ownership bylaw was set to pass by city council on Monday, but before that happened Scarrow proposed some changes.

He said animal licensing fees should be $20 across the board for both cats and dogs regardless of whether or not the animal had been spayed or neutered.

The bylaws' original wording called for a $60 fee for unaltered dogs and a $30 fee for unaltered cats. Licenses for fixed dogs would be $20 and fixed cats would be $15. The previous bylaw had owners paying $120 for an unaltered dog.

Scarrow said he proposed the change in order to get more people to license their animals in the first place.

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“We have had this very low registration of dog licenses for all my years in office and when it’s ineffective, it’s ineffective,” said Scarrow.

“The costs of registration for an animal were beyond the reach of too many people and it was a disincentive.”

The bylaw, with Scarrow’s amendment was passed by council. Councillor Lee Atkinson voted against the amended bylaw because he said the SPCA was not consulted before the changes were accepted.

SPCA manager Debbie Lenhner said while she fully agreed that more people would now be able to afford licenses, the problem was that there was now no incentive to encourage fix pets.

“It’s a lost opportunity to for us to educate people about the benefits of spaying and neutering,” said Lehner.

“The pet population here is out of control and now, having this $20 across the board for non-fixed pets tells them it’s ok don’t fix your pet, keep having puppies and we’ll take them in.”

Lehner said the flat rate makes Prince Albert the only place in the province to not differentiate between altered and unaltered animals.

She said the SPCA had worked with the city’s police service by law office to come up with the numbers, so she and other members of the SPCA were taken by surprise when the changes came forward.

“We have been working with (the police bylaw office), we were well aware of everything in there and then out of the blue we were told when we got there that there was going to be this amendment,” said Lehner.

“We were taken aback.”

adesouza@panow.com

Related stories from paNOW

– Dec. 14 – Cat licenses, higher fines in new pet bylaw

– Nov. 16 – SPCA, bylaw officers want better pet licensing, harsher fines