Dog Licensing

I know I've posted before about our woes with licensing our dogs but this is a little different.

I heard on the radio yesterday that the county will be holding community meetings on proposed changes to the pet ordinances. One of those changes will be to put limits and require permit for pets over a certain number. Of course it will only apply to the city of Bakersfield, for now... They are also proposing increases to the licensing costs for unaltered pets. Already that fee is $60 per year, they are proposing raising it to $75 per year. I can't tell you how angry I am...

First, these permits they are suggesting would give the county the right to come onto your property and inspect it if you have 6 or more animals. That includes cats and dogs. This was, until recently, a rural community but the recent push is to rework it's image into one with upper scale homes and neighborhoods. So along with that idea comes the need to put restrictions on animals. Once this ordinance goes into place for the city it will be easy to extend it to the rest of the county.

Second, the rates for licensing of dogs are just ridiculous. In a few minutes time I was able to determine that if this goes into effect we will be one of the most expensive places in the state for dog licensing. Most counties charge more for an unaltered dog but it's usually twice as much, this will put our county at 5 times more. Statistics show that these types of things don't work. One of the first counties in CA to do this saw a drop in dog licensing and a dramatic increase in euthanasia at the shelters. The cost to redeem an impounded unaltered animal is huge so instead these dogs went unclaimed. We have looked into getting Hannah fixed and have plans to do so. The increased cost of licensing isn't doing much to help in our quest to save up the required $140 for the procedure.

I plan on attending the meeting, not that it will do much good. Each time we have moved I have learned to add to my "check these things out before moving list", it's time to add pet licensing onto that list. With 5 dogs and 3 outdoor cats we can't afford not to check that out next time.