HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 01 Animal Control Program Discussion AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 1/20/2015
Meeting Type: Work Session
Staff Contact/Dept.: Michael Harman/Police Staff Phone No: 726-2347
Estimated Time: 45 Minutes
S P R I N G F I E L D C I T Y C O U N C I L Council Goals: Provide Financially Responsible and
Innovative Government Services
ITEM TITLE: ANIMAL CONTROL PROGRAM DISCUSSION
ACTION REQUESTED:
Discussion on the Animal Control program and direction to prepare/not prepare a
draft ordinance requiring veterinarians to report vaccinations to the Police
Department Animal Control program to ensure vaccinated dogs are also licensed.
ISSUE STATEMENT:
Shall the City of Springfield adopt an ordinance requiring local veterinarians to
enforce a rabies inoculations program inside the city limits?
ATTACHMENTS: 1 – Council Briefing Memorandum
2 – Sample Mandatory Reporting Ordinances
DISCUSSION/ FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
The City has a code requiring that dogs be licensed by their owners. The City and
the public both benefit from this code requirement, because licensed dogs are more likely to be spayed or neutered and are easier to return to the owner if it is found
running loose. Licensed dogs are often returned home before the owner realizes
they are missing, and the City saves money by avoiding the cost of sheltering a found animal at Greenhill. One of the ongoing challenges in implementing the licensing code is informing dog owners of the requirement and enforcing
compliance.
If the Council chooses to pursue additional compliance efforts, the City could enact
an ordinance requiring Springfield veterinarians to report information regarding dogs that receive rabies vaccinations to the Animal Control program. That
information would be used to check that dogs receiving vaccinations also have
valid City dog licenses, and if not, to enforce compliance. Lane County has had such an ordinance in place since 2003. County staff report that the number of dogs
with County licenses has more than doubled since implementation of their ordinance.
Veterinarians, while expected to be initially opposed to the program, potentially benefit from this ordinance because their customers receive a reminder from the Vet to update their pet’s vaccination and also a renewal notice from the City for the
license which requires the vaccination.
The Police Department Animal Control Program is ranked as a ‘Quartile 3’
Program in the Priority Based Budget model. The current program costs approximately $130,000 per year to operate and has historically generated
approximately $30,000 in revenue. A recent increase in basic license fees, more
closely matching regional partners, is on track to increase revenues this year to about $54,000. Program revenues would more closely match expenditures if a
higher percentage of residents were complying with the existing city code requiring
the license.
Attachment 1, Page 1 of 2
M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield
Date: 1/20/2015
To: Gino Grimaldi COUNCIL
From: Michael Harman, Police Services Bureau Manager BRIEFING
Subject: Animal Control Program Discussion MEMORANDUM
ISSUE: Should the City consider an ordinance requiring local veterinarians to enforce a rabies inoculations program inside the city limits?
COUNCIL GOALS/
MANDATE:
Provide Financially Responsible and Innovative Government Services
BACKGROUND:
Animal Control has long been a program assigned to the Police Department. The program provides enforcement of animal related ordinances within the city limits. The primary focus is
to license dogs and address dog-related issues, with at-large, barking, vicious, and neglected dogs being the most common calls for service. The Animal Control Officer reports that a
majority of the dogs he encounters in the field are unlicensed. Historically, the City has not
aggressively pursued licensing of dogs except through public information efforts or after the Animal Control Officer has encountered a dog in his work.
If the City deems it reasonable to pursue increasing the percentage of dogs properly licensed under the City code, the Council could enact an ordinance requiring Springfield veteinarians to
report information regarding dogs that receive rabies vaccinations to the Animal Control
program. That information would be used to check that dogs receiving vaccinations also have a valid City dog license, and if not, to enforce compliance.
This type of a program was considered and declined once before, in 2005. At that time, the County, through LCAS, was responsible for licensing in all of Lane County and the City of
Eugene, but not in Springfield. The County passed an ordinance in 2003, modeled on others already in place around the State, that requires veterinarians to report the names and addresses of dog owners who bring in dogs for rabies vaccinations. Those lists are then checked against
County records to ensure that the dogs also have valid dog licenses. That ordinance is still in effect, and the City of Eugene has continued using that program since the LCAS consortium was
dissolved and animal enforcement moved to the Eugene Police Department.
Initial reaction to such a proposal is likely to be somewhat negative. The ordinance, in effect,
requires veterinarians to report their customer lists to law enforcement, and both community
members and practitioners are likely to have concerns about privacy. However, there are several benefits to the idea as well. Many dog owners believe that the required rabies vaccination is the
same thing as the dog license, which it is not. Most responsible dog owners do not complain
about the additional requirement to license their pet with the City once they understand the intent and the benefits of the City licensing ordinance.
The City benefits because a licensed dog is much easier to return to the owner if it is found
MEMORANDUM 1/15/2015 Page 2
running loose. Licensed dogs are often returned before the owner realizes they are missing, and
the City saves money by avoiding the cost of sheltering a found animal at Greenhill. Also,
program revenues would more closely match expenditures as a higher percentage of residents came into compliance with the city code requiring the license.
Veterinarians potentially benefit because their customers receive both a reminder from the Vet to renew vaccinations and a renewal notice from the City that also requires the vaccination record.
Veterinarians regularly send out reminders for necessary vaccinations on dogs, but often stop there without additional follow-up. The current Animal Control program follows up on license renewals until the dog owner renews or declares that they no longer own the dog.
The City and the public would benefit because having electronic records of vaccinations submitted to the City directly from the veterinarians would eliminate the need for paper copies to
be submitted at the time of licensing or renewals. In the future, this could enable us to develop a process for electronic renewals for dog licenses.
The Police Department’s Animal Control program has been ranked as a Quartile 3 Program in the Priority Based Budgeting model. The Department has selected this program for review
because it is a relatively straightforward service with the potential to be modified to change the
cost/revenue projections and to significantly impact the service delivery model.
In conclusion, enactment of an ordinance requiring veterinarians to provide information to the
Animal Control Officer regarding known dogs, with the goal of ensuring compliance with City licensing requirements, has the potential to increase the efficiency of the program by making the
return of lost dogs easier, and generate additional revenue into the program to more closely
match expenditures. If the Council deems that the community is ready for such an approach, the Department will begin working with the City Attorneys’s Office to draft specific language for
further consideration.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Discussion and direction to pursue or not pursue such an ordinance.
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