County plans to reinstitute fees for pet owners

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2000 | 10:16 a.m.

Pet owners may again pay to license their prized ones, but a new satellite animal shelter would keep them closer to home when they stray under a plan Clark County unleashed Tuesday.

By reinstating its pet-license program, the county hopes to raise enough money to fund a shelter in the northeast. The only existing county shelter is the Dewey Animal Care Center in the southwest valley.

"A third of the animals picked up are picked up in (the northeast)," said Commissioner Mary Kincaid, whose district includes that region. "That is quite a distance for people to drive to Dewey."

Dr. Joseph Freer, who operates the Dewey center, said a second shelter will help improve the valley's low success rate -- about 10 percent -- of reuniting pets with their owners.

"With two adoption centers at both ends of the community, we'll increase our chances of reuniting," Freer said.

Freer, who volunteered to administer the licensing program, suggested charging $10 to license spayed or neutered pets and $25 for unsterilized animals. Senior citizens would be offered a lower fee.

If 50 percent of the valley's pet owners complied with the new licensing measure, a county report says, about $1.4 million would be collected. The money would be split between the new shelter and renovations at Dewey.

The county did away with its licensing program in 1998 because it was losing money. Only 10 percent of pet owners in unincorporated parts of the county bothered to get licenses, and the county was paying for services that were supposed to be covered by the fees.

Pet owners in Las Vegas still must get licenses.

The county now relies on its rabies database program, which requires veterinarians to submit pets' vaccination records, to track owners' names and addresses. Freer volunteered to run that program with the licensing if it is passed.

Also included the proposal are two five-year extensions to Dewey's sheltering contract with the county. Dewey's current contract expires in 2005.

Opponents also said they believe Freer has a conflict of interest because Dewey animal shelter would benefit from the county plan. Freer agreed to divest himself of the Dewey center, saying that would resolve the conflict.

While commissioners unanimously supported the proposal, there were opponents.

Dr. Myra Glassman, a psychiatrist who encourages her patients to take in pets for therapy, said the licensing program would be counterproductive.

Since the licensing program was eliminated, Glassman said, the rate of owners vaccinating their pets has skyrocketed by 385 percent.

"There is no reason to believe reinstating licensing with higher fees would increase compliance," Glassman said.

The new licensing program and shelter proposal must go before the county's volunteer animal advisory committee and return to the commission before it is finalized.