Pets could get free ride home

Wednesday, May 28, 1997 | 10:48 a.m.

Licensed dogs and cats caught running free on Las Vegas streets would, under a proposed ordinance, be returned to their owners instead of taken to the pound.

A bill was introduced at Tuesday's City Council meeting that would allow an Animal Control officer to take a loose pet back to his owner. It would save the owner the cost of impound and boarding fees and save the city the cost of feeding, sheltering and, if necessary, destroying the animal after five days in captivity.

The bill, sponsored by Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, will go to a recommending committee consisting of Jones and Councilman Arnie Adamsen next Wednesday and could be adopted next month. It is called the "Ticket Home" proposal by supporters.

"Under current city code provisions, dogs or cats running at large must be impounded," City Attorney Brad Jerbic wrote in a recent memo to the council. "The impoundment fee is $25 and the boarding fee is $5 per day."

Jerbic notes, however, that often those fees go uncollected because the owner is not willing -- or cannot afford -- to bail his pet out of the city pound.

"It is anticipated that the cost savings realized by the city as the result of the proposals in this bill will more than offset the loss in collection of impound and boarding fees," Jerbic said.

Mary Herro, director of the Animal Foundation International's low-cost spay-neuter clinic on Mojave Road, which serves as the city's pound, says the measure is a "key component" in stemming the unwanted animal dilemma in Southern Nevada.

"Currently, only about 14 percent of dogs are retrieved (from the pound) and just 4 percent of cats are reclaimed by owners," Herro said. "A similar program in a California city resulted in a 42 percent increase in the number of cats being reclaimed by their owners.

"We hope this measure also will increase the number of pets that are licensed because that is truly their ticket home."

It is estimated that only about 28,000 of about 200,000 domestic animals in the city are licensed, she said.

Also, Herro said, bringing the pet home should help improve the image of the Animal Control officer, who often is unfairly characterized as a villain.

However, because Clark County and the city maintain separate pound facilities and licensing procedures, animals licensed in the city and captured in the county still would be taken to the county pound at the Dewey Animal Clinic. Also, animals licensed in the county and captured in the city would be taken to the city pound.

"We are talking to the county to eventually make this a valleywide program," Herro said.

The restrictions proposed for the city ordinance include:

* The animal must be captured within one mile of its owner's home.

* The animal must not have been returned to that home within the previous six months. (This prevents Animal Control from making multiple trips and pet owners from abusing the proposed measure).

* The owner must be willing to take possession of the animal and agree to take measures that would secure the animal at that residence.

The loose animal, however, cannot be returned under the proposed ordinance change if it:

* Is afflicted or suspected to be afflicted with rabies.

* Has a history of biting.

* Is deemed to be vicious.

* Is sick or injured and the owner cannot be contacted.

archive