As part of its 2013 budget deliberations, council has approved a dog licensing program that will see bylaw officers canvassing residents to register unlicensed dogs. The program is expected to cost $51,000 in salaries and benefits and to generate revenues of $67,000.
"It's obvious there are so many dog owners who are not licensing their dogs," said Coun. Betty McIntosh. "If it's going to be revenue-neutral, I can't see why we couldn't do it,"
Four canvassers will go do door-to-door to register unlicensed dogs in 2014, 2016 and every two years thereafter. Staff has proposed the program because it increases responsible pet ownership, helps return stray, lost and stolen pets, reduces the city's cost of caring for stray animals and helps the city efficiently manage and control the dog population in New Westminster.
Jim Lowrie, the city's director of engineering service, said it's estimated that only 34 per cent of households actually license their dogs. While the city could begin with a "passive approach" of licensing dogs in off-leash areas, he said staff supports the full canvassing program.
"I know when I first moved to New Westminster the animal services came and they sold licences at the door. I thought it was a wonderful service," said Coun. Lorrie Williams. "It's a lot easier for working people who perhaps can't get to city hall. I think it's a wonderful thing. I would support a door-to-door program."
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr was the lone councillor to vote against the program,
saying he'd prefer the city begin with a less labour intensive approach that includes increasing signage at dog parks, and allowing veterinarian clinics and pet stores to sell dog licences.
"The signage could be fairly aggressive saying that no unlicensed dogs are permitted in this park, which really puts peer pressure on those that show up with dogs without licences," Puchmayr said. "That's what I hear from dog park users is that they are frustrated that people show up with unlicensed dogs, but they are intimidated to say anything, especially if that person has a large dog."
While McIntosh agrees with the idea of increasing signage about dog licences, she also supports the canvassing program.
"I think people need one-on-one contact, because they are not licensing their dogs," she said. "We who do license our dogs are often the ones who are intimidated."
Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said he's always believed government should earn revenue from sources other than taxation. He said this program is expected to leave the city with a net gain of $16,000.
"I think most people know their dogs ought to be licensed," he said. "Sure some people forget and that sort of thing. It's much harder to ignore that face-to-face contact than it is to a leaflet to your house."
Dave Cole, assistant manager of engineering operations, said the program's revenues have been estimated using the number of hours the canvassers will work and the cost of dog licences.
"It is certainly speculation," he said. "We don't know for sure how many dogs are out there. Working with a lot of different municipalities, we came up with a certain formula. A certain percentage of households have dogs. That's how we calculated that. A lot of households have multiple dogs, not just one dog."
Puchmayr suggested the city's revenue could be even higher if it went with a less labour intensive model to begin with.
"I am not saying this is a bad idea. I am saying let's try other initiatives first, and then if that doesn't seem to get us the result then let's look at the other one, maybe in 2015 when we are in a better financial position," he said.
