Fur Flying in Los Angeles Over Dog License Drive

A recent news report on KTLA TV, featured on L.A. Times video, reported that the cash-strapped city is going to the dogs — literally.

The Los Angeles City Council voted February 23, 2010, to have two departments share information in order to track down people who haven't licensed their pets.

The City of LA estimates that two-thirds of the city's canine are unlicensed. Licenses cost $15 for a sterilized dog and $100 for an unaltered pet. Getting all dogs licensed would mean at least an additional $3.6 million in fees to the city.

The Department of Animal Services has eight full-time people whose job is to find and license dogs. The Department of Water and Power keeps a meter-reader database of homes with dogs. The council ordered the departments to coordinate to find (and license) those dogs that are currently not bylaw compliant.

Posted by Terri Perrin, Online Communications Editor

Calgary Animal Shelters at Full Capacity

Vacationing owners and the recession result in kennels being filled to capacity CALGARY, August 12, 2009 ~ A story published in today's Calgary Herald revealed that Calgary's two largest animal shelters are in crisis. The City's shelter is getting close to capacity, with 70 cats and 44 dogs waiting to be claimed by their owners or be adopted into new homes. Similarly, the Calgary Humane Society is overrun with 484 cats and 95 dogs.

"We always get a bit of a spike in our numbers in August," said Bill Bruce, The City's director of Animal & Bylaw Services. "But it's our return-to-owner statistics that really slump out on us because of [the fact that people are on] vacations. We have trouble reaching the owners to let them know their pet is here. At some point--after 10 to 14 days of trying to reach them and getting no response to our calls -- we have to act in the animal's best interests, which is not to keep it languishing in a shelter forever and it gets adopted."

"[Capacity] is usually high this time of year," said Calgary Humane Society spokeswoman Pamela Amos, noting it is kitten season so some owners are surrendering the mother cat and her entire litter. The shelter has also noticed an increasing number of owners turning over their pets due to the recession.

Local Service Providers: City of Calgary Animal & Bylaw Services, Calgary Humane Society