True confession: My cats do not have licenses to be cats. I've just never gotten around to it. And to be even more candid, I was over the kitty limit for several years. All my cats have been indoor only cats. You wouldn't know I had a cat, unless you looked through my trash. (or caught me having to chase one of my cats outside to return them inside after a successful door charge by the stinker.)This news item came to my attention: Pets Without Licenses Could Cost Owners $75. My reaction? Well, it's mixed. One because there truly is good in knowing about how many dogs and cats are in the city. It does help for lost pets, especially dogs. But please, let's be real. The city is looking for money in every corner. More taxes (cleverly hidden as fees) for every service you can imagine. A violation of an ordinance? Assess a fine! The machine at City Hall is low on money and must have more.
It would only cost $30 to license the current gang. ($10 per neutered/spayed animal. Yes, your companion animal should be neutered/spayed.) but frankly, I would rather the city not notice me. The less interaction with the government, the better, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not alone; the comments with the news story show that, at least for those with strong enough feelings to comment, licensing is not a favored activity.
7 comments:
I gotta tell ya Observer, my herd isn't licensed either. For two reasons.
#1 - If a licensed dog is picked up, the shelter does not bother to look up the license tag number and notify the owner. They will scan for a chip, but a tag only shows that the fee was paid. What kind of BS is that.
#2 - (you aren't going to like this) Cats aren't licensed. They run through the neighborhood with no license, my wiener dogs who never leave the house/yard cost $35 bucks a year per dog. Discrimination against wiener dogs say I!!!
My dogs are spayed/neutered and are vaccinated, I just struggle with the fees.
My town did the door to door thing for a while, but it didn't pencil out. They didn't have the staff to do it and knew if they hired more, the additional fees wouldn't cover the cost so it went away.
Odd. Thanks for the post.
Going door-to-door seems excessive. Government is always looking for more money, though. The county here is using arial photos to find people who built without permits - raking in loads of money, too.
I knew that looked wrong. aerial.
I'll go get some sleep now.
Dear The Observer,
When I bailed my two jailcats out of the pokey, I was warned I'd get a home visit from one of those pets rights dictators.
I just couldn't get over it. I love my jailcats, but good grief. Couldn't they go find a human child that doesn't have enough to eat for those home visits?
Turns out, the threat is mostly what they do. They waived my visit while at the same time making sure that I felt as if I was not quite good enough.
They reserved the right to do it, that's what it generally ends up being.
Take heart. And, bleah to them.
Lock those cats up in a bathroom if they come and tell 'em they need a warrant. Then quick go vacuum before the SWAT team shows up!!! Be sure and throw away the vacuum cleaner bag!!!! Because,
After SWAT hut-huts through your house, effectively scattering the cats to the four winds, they will send those CSI: South Kansas City people out.
Specialists will be checking your rugs for different DNA sequences of cat hair. Enormous amounts of lab time will be spent on this evidence!!!!
When you get out of the pokey six years later, the cats will return, now having learned how to be homeless, feral, and able to subdue rabid skunks.
And the city will be So Much Better Off, having made sure that you are not a dotty granny with a hundred cats. I figure they will have spent that fifteen dollars in fees a million times over.
Democracy, gotta love it,
Democracy, where is it,
Ann T.
Ann T:
ROFL! I've been telling the gang to only peep birds and squirrels from the windows in the back of the house. Gotta keep a low profile.
Thanks for making my day with this comment!
The Observer
Warm Socks:
My, you were up late! Don't worry, we are sympathetic to all misspellings and tpyos around these parts. (Spring came and all the proof readers just UP and LEFT!)
Aerial checks now? Is there a kerfluffle amongst the good tax paying citizens of your town over this?
Thanks for stopping by,and the comment. The Observer
Capt Schmoe:
That cost/benefit thing is exactly what I think will happen here eventually. Not to mention the political capital spent. There are a lot of pet owners out there. And many of us vote.
That is odd that they don't use the license info to connect lost dog to owner. Seems to me that would be an effective use of time and resources. I am also surprised at the non-licensing of cats--is it because they don't bite (strangers and postmen--only the hands that feed them--ha ha.) and bark, perhaps? It does sound as if your neighborhood could use a Cat Catcher though.
Thanks for commenting
The Observer
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