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Report To: General Government Committee
Date of Meeting: November 28, 2016
Report Number: CLD-033-16 Resolution:
File Number: By-law Number:
Report Subject: Responsible Pet Owners' By-law - Licensing Expiry Date and Sale of
Lifetime Licenses
Recommendations:
1.That Report CLD-033-16 be received;
2.That the proposed expiry date for annual licences changes to be effective January 1,
2017, be approved;
3.That the draft by-law to amend By-law 2013-024, the Responsible Pet Owners' By-law,
attached to Report CLD-033-16 as Attachment 2, be approved to change the expiry
date of animal licenses from calendar year to date of purchase, to Amend Schedule "A"
Fees to delete the lifetime licensing category and to provide for the grandfathering of
any existing current lifetime licenses; and
4.That all interested parties listed in Report CLD-033-16 and any delegations be advised
of Council's decision.
Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16 Page 2
Report Overview
Staff recently undertook a review of animal licensing with a view to improving compliance. This Report discusses two significant changes to the existing licensing model, being a 12-
month licence period and the discontinuation of the lifetime licence category.
1. Background
Under the authority of the Municipal Act, 2001, and in accordance with the Clarington
Responsible Pet Owners’ By-law 2013-024, the Municipality of Clarington requires that all dogs and cats be licensed. Licensing of dogs has been in place in Clarington since 1859
and cats since 2000. The purpose of licensing pets is to ensure the health and safety of
our Clarington residents and our pets.
The licensing revenues assist the Municipality in providing valuable animal related
services such as:
Easy reuniting of dogs and cats to their owners if the animal is wearing a current
tag,
Public education initiatives in schools and within the community,
The feeding, sheltering and safe keeping of impounded or surrendered animals,
and
Clarington’s pet adoption program.
As detailed in the following chart, licensing levels have continually declined which staff
believe is directly linked with the discontinuation of door-to-door licence sales. (Note, this
method of sales was discontinued due to an increasing intolerance of door-to-door sales
in our community and beyond.)
Licence Year Annual Lifetime Total Sales
2011 4091 729 4820
2012 3715 282 3997
2013 3049 295 3344
2014 2489 246 2735
2015 1482 156 1638
Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16 Page 3
In addition various sales outlets located throughout the Municipality, in 2015 Clarington began offering on-line licensing. Pet owners who take advantage of the on-line licensing
option are provided discount coupons from various area businesses. While these two
avenues for sales are successful, our compliance rate of approximately 23% remains low.
(Ipsos Reid eNation survey conducted in April 2013 shows that 57% of Canadian’s own a
pet.)
Over the past few years staff have implemented various communication strategies such
as regular licensing messages through social media, advertisements in the newspaper
and Community Guide as well as through the Municipal Website in an effort to improve
our licensing compliance rates. As well, last summer a door-to-door licensing public
education program was introduced in our urban areas. To further address this issue, staff considered other options, including increased enforcement and higher fines and the new
licencing model as described in this report.
2. Fee Structure and Prices
Effective January 1, 2000, By-law 99-90 was enacted by Council, which updated and
consolidated a number of by-laws governing animals in the Town of Newcastle. As well,
this by-law implemented the licensing of cats and the opportunity for lifetime licences.
Since 2006 By-law 2006-227 has been repealed and replaced with By-law 2013-024.
The fee structure has remained consistent since 2011 and has remained very affordable. The expiry date of every licence, other than a lifetime licence, expires on December 31 of
the calendar year for which it was issued. The following chart details Clarington’s current
animal license fees.
Licences Fee
Dog or cat – microchipped & spayed or neutered $15.00
Dog or cat – spayed or neutered no microchip $25.00
Dog – unaltered $40.00
Cat – unaltered $40.00
Dog or cat – lifetime (must be altered & microchipped) $80.00
Dog or cat – Agricultural Rate $100.00
Working Dog No Fee
Attachment 1 to the Report is a summary of licensing structure and prices for the area municipalities.
Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16 Page 4
3. Comments
3.1 Enforcement and Fines
Some municipalities, such as Calgary and Hamilton, have implemented a compliance
model which essentially provides for a limited period of “free” licensing followed up with
very proactive and rigid enforcement of the requirement to hold a license along with high fines for not holding a license. While this model would undoubtedly improve our compliance rates, it would not be readily received by our community and would
compromise our positive image within Clarington. For success, it would require taking a
very heavy handed approach to enforcement. Thus taxing our staff resources on
enforcement and court time, as well as administering complaints.
Where the goal of enforcement is compliance, staff believe that options for improving compliance rates through licensing model changes rather than our enforcement model
should be explored before any consideration is given to adopting such an enforcement
model as that used in Calgary.
3.2 Expiry date change
Prior to approximately 1967, dog owners paid an additional tax and were actually
registered on the tax roll as dog owners. While the practice is no longer followed, the concept remains today that licensing revenues are collected from dog and cat owners to
assist in paying for animal related services within our community.
When selling a licence for a pet the expiry date of the licence has always been December
31 of the calendar year for which it was issued, regardless of when the licence was
purchased.
Staff are recommending that effective January 1, 2017, the licensing model be changed
from calendar year to 12-month licences. The recommended change would be that the
expiry date would be a year from the date of purchase.
Staff are recommending this change to address the issues of new residents moving into
the area and residents acquiring a new pet, all of which can happen at any time during the calendar year. Also, when a resident purchases a licence later in the year and see
that they get a full year from the date of purchase before the licence expires they will be
more likely to continue to purchase their yearly licence versus purchasing for example in
September and have the licence valid for only four months. This, it is predicted, will
increase yearly licence sales as the purchaser will realize more value in their purchase. As well, when residents purchase a yearly licence Clarington will always have the most
current information. Staff believes the proposed change is reasonable, fair and in line
with our neighbouring municipalities that are offering 12-month licenses. With the use of
our on-line licensing system, there should be no impact on staff to switch to the 12-month
licence model.
Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16 Page 5
3.3 Lifetime Licenses
As noted above, Clarington’s licence structure includes a “lifetime” licence. This concept
was introduced in 1999 (effective January 1, 2000) and provides dog/cat owners the opportunity to purchase a single licence which would only expire upon the death of the
dog/cat. The price for a lifetime licence is $80 and is only permitted for dogs/cats who
are altered (i.e. spayed or neutered) and who have been microchipped. The lifetime
licence is offered as an incentive to our pet owners to alter and comply with our licensing
requirements.
The current licence prices are deemed affordable, reasonable and fair, with one
exception being the lifetime fee. The average lifespan of a dog is approximately 12 years
and an indoor cat is greater than 10 years. An owner of a dog who is altered and
microchipped has an option to pay $15.00 for an annual licence or pay $80.00 for a
lifetime licence. Thus the owner who purchases a permit each year, assuming the pet lives for and is licensed each year for 12 years, pays $180.00. If purchasing a life-time
license the owner is only contributing to offset the costs of animal related services for a
five and a half year period which equates to approximately 45% of the average life of the
dog.
Traditionally, any licence fees collected have been applied against “current year”
expenses and have not been allocated to a reserve to be applied against future
expenditures. To do so, would have resulted in increased processing resources and
reduced annual revenues.
Inherent in an annual licensing process is the ability for staff to maintain current ownership records. The lifetime licence is convenient for residents as they only have to
remember to purchase the lifetime licence once and do not have to worry about renewing
the licence. Because the owner purchases the licence when they first acquire their pet,
they typically do not remember to notify the Animal Shelter of any ownership, address, or
telephone changes. Thus, often times when an animal, who has a valid lifetime licence, is impounded staff encounter difficulty in contacting the owners (with the decline in land
line phones, this is being even more problematic). While staff make every effort to
maintain a current and accurate repository of ownership records, limited staff resources
does present challenges in proactively maintaining up to date data. As shown in
Attachment 1, neighbouring municipalities no longer offer lifetime licences.
Staff are therefore recommending that the lifetime licence category be discontinued
effective January 1, 2017. Any existing, valid lifetime licences would remain valid for the
life of the animal. Alternatively, should Council wish to continue this licensing category,
staff would recommend that a more appropriate licence fee be set for the lifetime licence.
Based on the average life of a dog being 12 years and a cat being more than 10 years. Staff would recommend that a fee of $150.00 ($15 for 10 years and then beyond that
would be essentially free) be set.
Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16 Page 6
4. Concurrence
Not Applicable
5. Conclusion
The cost for animal related services in the Municipality of Clarington have steadily
increased while licensing yearly compliance has decreased. Staff are recommending that
the licensing model be changed such that licences are sold for a 12-month period and
that the lifetime licence category be discontinued. These changes, combined with a modest public marketing campaign, is expected to increase licensing compliance and
keep pets and people safe.
6. Strategic Plan Application
Not applicable.
Submitted by: Reviewed by:
C. Anne Greentree, Curry Clifford, MPA, CMO
Municipal Clerk Interim CAO
Staff Contact: Mary Jane Bacon, Acting Animal Shelter Manager, 905-623-3379 ext. 2127 or
mbacon@clarington.net
Attachment:
Attachment 1 – 2016 Animal Fees – Other Municipalities
Attachment 2 – Draft By-law to amend By-law
There are no interested parties to be notified of Council’s decision.
Attachment 1 to
Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16
2016 Animal License Fees – Other Municipalities
CITY OF PETERBOROUGH
DOG CAT
Unaltered $50 N/A
Spayed/Neutered $25 N/A
SENIOR RATES (OVER 65)
Unaltered $35 N/A
Spayed/Neutered $15 N/A
Replacement tag $10 N/A
Licenses expiry – Calendar Year
CITY OF OSHAWA
DOG CAT
Unaltered with proof of annual rabies vaccine $50 $50
Unaltered with proof of annual rabies
vaccine & microchip
$60 Lifetime $60 Lifetime
Spayed/neutered and annual rabies
vaccine
$25 $25
Spayed/neutered, annual rabies
vaccine & microchip
$40 Lifetime $40 Lifetime
Special Needs Dogs No charge N/A
Licenses expiry – Date of Purchase
Including ferrets, which must also be licensed.
CITY OF PICKERING
DOG CAT
Unaltered $50 $50
Unaltered with Microchip $40 $40
Spayed/Neutered $25 $25
Spayed/Neutered with Microchip $20 $20
Replacement tag $5 $5
Licenses expiry – Date of Purchase
Attachment 1 to
Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16
PAW ANIMAL SERVICES
DOG CAT
WHITBY
Unaltered, over 3 months $50 $50
Spayed/Neutered $25 $25
Microchipped & Unaltered $45 $45
Spayed/Neutered and Microchipped $20 $20
Replacement tag $5 $5
Personal Assistance Dog, Law Enforcement Working Dog, Companion
Dog
No fee N/A
Licenses expiry – Date of Purchase
TOWN OF AJAX
DOG CAT
Unaltered, over 3 months $40 $40
Spayed/Neutered $25 $25
Microchipped & unaltered $35 $35
Spayed/Neutered and Microchipped $20 $20
Replacement tag $5 $5
Personal Assistance Dog, Law
Enforcement Working Dog, Companion
Dog
No fee N/A
Licenses expiry – Date of Purchase
TOWNSHIP OF UXBRIDGE
DOG CAT
Spayed/Neutered $20 N/A
Male or Female – 1st dog $30 N/A
Male or Female – 2nd dog $35 N/A
Male or Female – 3rd dog $40 N/A
Licenses expiry – Calendar Year
Attachment 1 to
Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16
CITY OF KAWARTHA LAKES
DOG CAT
Unaltered $30 N/A
Spayed/Neutered $25 N/A
Replacement tag $10 N/A
Licenses expiry – Calendar Year
PORT HOPE – OPERATED BY HAMILTON TOWNSHIP
DOG CAT
November 1st to February 28
Unaltered $15 N/A
Spayed/Neutered $10 N/A
March 1st to October 31
Unaltered $20 N/A
Spayed/Neutered $15 N/A
Licenses expiry – Calendar Year
TOWNSHIP OF BROCK
DOG CAT
Unaltered $30 N/A
Spayed/Neutered $25 N/A
Replacement tag $1.00 N/A
Licenses expiry – Date of Purchase
Attachment 2 to Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-033-16
The Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington By-law 2016-xxx
Being a by-law to amend By-law 2013-024, a by-law
respecting responsible pet ownership.
Whereas the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington deems it
advisable to amend By-law 2013-024, to change to 12-month animal licenses from calendar year licensing and delete the lifetime licence category;
Now therefore be it resolved that the Municipality of Clarington’s Responsible Pet
Owners’ By-law 2013-024 be amended as follows:
1. That Section 2.5 deleted and replaced with the following:
“Every licence shall be valid for 1 year form the date of issue.”
2. That Part 6, Licenses, be amended to add:
6.3.1 Notwithstanding section 6.2, all licences issued under By-law 2013-024,
as amended, including lifetime licenses in effect on January 1, 2017, shall
remain in effect until they would have otherwise expired.
3. That all reference to lifetime licence be deleted.
4. Schedule “A”, Licenses, be amended to rename Section 6 to Section 5.
5. Schedule “A” be amended to delete the following:
“NOTE: There is a 10% discount for licences purchased before January 1st of
the licensing year.”
6. That this by-law comes into effect on January 1, 2017.
Passed this __________ of _________, 2016.
_____________________________
Adrian Foster, Mayor
_____________________________
C. Anne Greentree, Municipal Clerk