HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 5466 ORDINANCE NO. 5466
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING §92.01 DEFINITIONS, REPEALING AND
REPLACING § 92.20 ANNUAL LICENSE AND TAG, AMENDING §92.24
REDEMPTION OF ANIMALS, REPEALING §92.33 ANIMAL HOBBYIST
PERMIT OF CHAPTER 92: ANIMALS OF THE CODE OF FAYETTEVILLE
TO REMOVE ANIMAL LICENSING REQUIREMENTS, ENACT ANIMAL
MICROCHIPPING REQUIREMENTS, AND PROVIDING FOR AN
EFFECTIVE DATE
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FAYETTEVILLE,ARKANSAS:
Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby amends
§92.01 Definitions of the Code of Fayetteville by deleting the definitions of Hobbyist and
License and inserting, in alphabetical order location,the following definitions:
Microchip. An identifying integrated circuit placed under the skin of a dog or cat for
purposes of identifying the owner of the animal.
Sterilize means to surgically alter an animal so that it cannot reproduce.
Section 2. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby repeals
§92.20 Annual License and Tag of the Code of Fayetteville, and enacts a replacement §92.20
Microchipping and Registration Required, as presented in the attached Exhibit "A", which is
incorporated herein as if set out word for word.
Section 3. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby amends
§92.24 Redemption of Animals of the Code of Fayetteville by deleting subsection (A) of the
section and replacing it with a new subsection (A), as presented in the attached Exhibit `B",
which is incorporated herein as if set out word for word.
Section 4. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby amends
§92.24 Redemption of Animals of the Code of Fayetteville by deleting subsection (B) of the
section and replacing it with a new subsection (B), as presented in the attached Exhibit "C",
which is incorporated herein as if set out word for word.
Page 2
Ordinance No. 5466
Section 5. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby repeals
§92.33 Annual Hobbyist Permit of the Code of Fayetteville.
Section 6. That this Ordinance shall not become effective until January 1, 2012.
PASSED and APPROVED this 6th day of December, 2011.
APPROVED: ATTEST:
By /ilk By:
I NELD J AN, Mayor LISA BRANSON, Deputy City Clerk
TR �°i°
OF SGS
E ;FAYETTEVILLE; 3
°Jfg11/1ApY\\p
92.20 Microchipping and Registration
Required
The owner or harborer of any dog or cat four(4)months
old or older living in the City must have an RFID
microchip implanted in their dog or cat. The RFID
number must be registered with the City's Animal
Services Division within thirty (30) days of the animal
being brought into the City. The identifying RFID
microchip number must be registered with the City
Animal Services Division within thirty (30) days of the
cat or dog being brought into the City or within thirty
(30)days of the dog or cat reaching four(4) months of
age. At all times,the owner or harborer of a dog or cat
living in the City must maintain up-to-date contact
information, including address and telephone number,
with the City Animal Services Division. The fee for any
City performed RFID microchip implant shall be$20.00.
EXHIBIT
92.24 Redemption Of Animals
(A) After the expiration of ten(10)days impoundment
in the case of a microchipped animal, or the
expiration of five(5)days impoundment in the case
of an non-microchipped animal, said animal shall
become the property of the City,and the City shall
be empowered to place for adoption or to destroy
and dispose of said animal as provided for in
§92.23 (B) above. The animal control officer is
hereby authorized to place for adoption or to
destroy such animal and dispose of the carcass.
For the purpose of this section, the day of taking
up shall be counted as the first day of the
impoundment.
EXHIBIT
92.24 Redemption Of Animals
(B) Redemption Fees
(1) Fees for Sterilized Animals
An owner reclaiming a sterilized impounded animal
shall pay the cost of such impoundment. Said
costs are hereby ascertained to be$10.00 for the
first impoundment if the animal is sterilized and has
a microchip currently registered with up-to-date
contact information on file with the City Animal
Services Division;$25.00 for the first impoundment
if the animal has no microchip or the animal's
microchip is not registered with up-to-date contact
information on file with the City Animal Services
Division. The animal shall be microchipped at the
time of redemption at the owner's expense. $50.00
for the second impoundment of a sterilized and
microchipped animal within a twelve (12) month
period. $100.00 for the third impoundment of a
sterilized and microchipped animal within a twelve
(12) month period. $200.00 for the fourth
impoundment of a sterilized and microchipped
animal within a twelve(12) month period.
(2) Fees for Unsterilized Animals
An owner reclaiming an unsterilized impounded
animal shall pay the cost of such impoundment.
Said costs are hereby ascertained to be$100.00
for the first impoundment on an unsterilized animal
with or without a microchip. The animal shall be
microchipped at the time of redemption at the
owner's expense. At the time of the first
redemption the owner of an unsterilized animal
shall be offered spay or neuter services at a
reduced cost. If sterilization is performed, the
impoundment fee will be reduced to $10.00 for
animals that are already microchipped and$25.00
for animals that are not microchipped or animals
whose microchips are not registered with up-to-
date information on file with the City Animal
Services Division. $200.00 for the second
impoundment within a twelve (12) month period.
At such time the animal will be considered a public
nuisance and shall be sterilized at the owner's
expense. At such time that a third impoundment
occurs,the owner shall be required to pay the fees
as set forth for the third impoundment of a
sterilized animal.
(3) Boarding Fees
In addition to the impoundment fees as provided in
subsections (B)(1) and (13)(2) of this section, a
boarding fee of$10.00 per day per animal shall be
charged for each day such animal is impounded in
the animal shelter,together with the cost of having EXHIBIT
an unvaccinated animal vaccinated for rabies.
City of Fayetteville Staff Review Form
City Council Agenda Items
and
Contracts, Leases or Agreements
City Council Council Meeting Date
Agenda Items Only
Justine Middleton Animal Services Community Services
Submitted By Division Department
Action Required:
Approval of proposed replacement of the pet licensing ordinance with a microchipping ordinance and alteration of
current animal sheltering impoundment fees.
Cost of this request Category/Project Budget Program Category/Project Name
Account Number Funds Used to Date Program/Project Category Name
$
Project Number Remaining Balance Fund Name
Budgeted Item Budget Adjustment Attached
Department .1p1 Previous Ordinance or Resolution#
Di ctor Date
Original Contract Date:
y Original Contract Number:
City Attorney Date
iV/z7jPy�B
of
Finance and Internal Services Director Date Received in City 9-2$- 1 1 P J 4 :3 kis'
Clerk's Office
4St
J® -3)-1
Date [ED
Received inMayor's Office
Date
Comments:
Revised January 15,2009
a �� le
THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE,ARKANSAS
DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE
ARKANSAS
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA MEMO
To: City Council
Thru: Yolanda Field,Dir. Community So'
; Jeremy Pate, Dir. Community Development'
From: Justine Middleton, Animal Services Sup 'ntendent
Date: October 25, 2011
Subject: Approval of proposed changes to the pet licensing and shelter impoundment fee ordinances
PROPOSAL:
The Animal Services Advisory Board recommended that the possibility of mandatory microchipping, as
opposed to the current city licensing program, be explored for the city of Fayetteville. The benefits of
microchiping are extensive. If an animal control officer finds a stray animal, he/she will scan the animal. If the
animal is chipped, the officer is able to immediately have the name, address, and phone number(s) of the owner
and often an emergency contact is listed as well. Being able to get the animal home directly, without ever
having to come to the Shelter, reduces the workload of the staff and also is much less stressful for the pet. It
also reduces the cost to the City by bypassing the need to vaccinate the animal upon intake and care for and feed
the pet until the owner is able to come claim the pet. So far in 2011, we have been able to return 164 more pets
to their owners than we did at this time last year. This is at least partly due to the increase in use of
microchipping.
Both staff and board members spent considerable time looking at data concerning the effectiveness and the
compliance rate with mandatory chipping. It was determined that more citizens already have their pets chipped
than have them current on their city licenses in Fayetteville. hi addition, microchips cannot be lost or misplaced
like collars and tags.
The proposed ordinance changes were modeled partly on the city of Springdale's successful mandatory
chipping ordinance and partly on other similar cities as well as what staff felt like would work best for
Fayetteville. In addition to switching to mandatory microchipping, there are proposed changes to the animal
redemption fees. These changes will help to target the animals that are the biggest concern for animal control,
which are pets that are out running loose in the streets. The Shelter takes in between 4,500 and 5,000 pets each
year and although many are returned to their owners or adopted, not all of them are. We want to encourage city
residents to follow the leash law and keep their pets safe.
The ordinance requires that the information stored on the microchip be kept up to date both with the City and
with the microchip company. In order to register a microchip with the City, a citizen will be required to fill out
a simple one page form which requests the same basic information that is stored by the microchip company at
the national level (name, contact information, breed of animal, etc). There are two main reasons for keeping the
THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE,ARKANSAS
information at the City level as well as the national level. One, in case a microchip company was ever to stop
operating the City would still have all the required information in their software system. In addition, having the
information stored in the Shelter's software system allows staff to easily access the information and get the pet
home in a more timely manner. It can take several minutes to place a call to a microchip company and relay
information to them so they will release the owner's information to staff. Currently Animal Control Officers do
not carry City issued cell phones with them, so having the information stored in our own system will also
prevent that added cost.
Although there may be an initial increased workload for staff to get the newly registered microchips in the
system, the workload should drop off steeply after the first rush. The information, once entered, is good for the
life of the pet unless someone moves or changes phone numbers. These updates are very simple to do in our
system. Updating information with a microchip company is also a simple process that can be done online or
over the phone depending on what company issues the chip. The chip the Shelter uses is 24 Hour Petwatch
which allows you to update the information stored on the chip at no cost online.
There is a higher charge for the first impoundment with a chip that does not have up to date information. A
chip is only as good as the information stored on it. If the address or phone number is incorrect, staff time must
be spent trying alternative ways to track down the owner and those efforts are not always succesful.
The current city licensing ordinance provides citizens a strong incentive to have their pets spayed or neutered.
A city tag for a neutered pet is only $5 whereas a tag for an unneutered pet is $75—this is a yearly expense.
Because microchips can be installed at any vet clinic, it does not makes sense for the ordinance requiring
microchipping to have any price discrepancy based on whether the pet has been neutered. Instead, staff and the
Advisory Board felt it made more sense to target those incentives towards the pets that were really causing
issues—those which are found running loose. This is the reasoning behind changing the redemption fee
schedule. Those citizens who have pets that are found running loose are charged higher fees on the first
impoundment, but with the option to have the fees drastically reduced if they choose to have their pet neutered
at a reduced cost (currently$30). If they do not choose to have their pet neutered, they may pay the higher fee.
On the second impoundment, neutering will be manadatory. Any subsquent impoundments will be subject to
the lower fees for neutered pets.
It is very important to remember that we only have three animal control officers for a city of over 75,000
people. If we catch a pet running loose multiple times, it only stands to reason that there are many other times
that the pet is out loose when we are not there. We are still dealing with a pet overpopulation issue. Despite
our best efforts, we still euthanize approximately 30%to 40% of the pets that come through our doors every
year. We also take several calls daily about pets that have been hit by cars on our busy streets. It is important
for pet owners to take responsibility for their pets.
Unless it is a habitual problem, every effort will be made to return the pet to the owner without the pet ever
even entering our Shelter. The redemption fees are set up as a strong deterrent for those pet owners who are
constantly letting their pets run loose.
RECOMMENDATION:
THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE,ARKANSAS
Staff, the Animal Services Advisory Board, and the Ordinance Review Committee recommends approval of the
proposed changes to the above mentioned ordinances to go into effect on January 1,2012.
BUDGET IMPACT:
N/a
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 92.01 DEFINITIONS,
REPEALING AND REPLACING SECTION 92.20 ANNUAL LICENSE AND
TAG, AMENDING SECTION 92.24 REDEMPTION OF ANIMALS,
REPEALING SECTION 92.33 ANIMAL HOBBYIST PERMIT OF
CHAPTER 92: ANIMALS OF THE CODE OF FAYETTEVILLE TO REMOVE
ANIMAL LICENSING REQUIREMENTS AND ENACT ANIMAL
MICROCHIPPING REQUIREMENTS, AND PROVIDING FOR AN
EFFECTIVE DATE
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS:
Section 1. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby amends
§92.01 Definitions of the Code of Fayetteville by deleting the definitions of Hobbyist and
License and inserting, in alphabetical order location,the following definitions:
Microchip. An identifying integrated circuit placed under the skin of a dog or cat
for purposes of identifying the owner of the animal
Sterilize means to surgically alter an animal so that it cannot reproduce.
Section 2. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby repeals
§92.20 Annual License and Tag of the Code of Fayetteville, and enacts a replacement §92.20
Microchipping and Registration Required, as presented in the attached Exhibit "A", which is
incorporated herein as if set out word for word.
Section 3. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby amends
§92.24 Redemption of Animals of the Code of Fayetteville by deleting subsection (A) of the
section and replacing it with a new subsection (A), as presented in the attached Exhibit `B",
which is incorporated herein as if set out word for word.
Section 4. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby amends
§92.24 Redemption of Animals of the Code of Fayetteville by deleting subsection (B) of the
section and replacing it with a new subsection (B), as presented in the attached Exhibit "C",
which is incorporated herein as if set out word for word.
Section 5. That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby repeals
§92.33 Annual Hobbyist Permit of the Code of Fayetteville.
Section 6. That this Ordinance shall not become effective until January 1, 2012.
PASSED and APPROVED this day of '12011.
APPROVED: ATTEST:
By: By:
LIONELD JORDAN, Mayor SONDRA E. SMITH, City Clerk/Treasurer
92.20 Microchipping and Registration
Required
The owner or harborer of any dog or cat four(4)months
old or older living in the City must have an RFID
microchip implanted in their dog or cat. The RFID
number must be registered with the City's Animal
Services Division within thirty (30) days of the animal
being brought into the City. The identifying RFID
microchip number must be registered with the City
Animal Services Division within thirty (30)days of the
cat or dog being brought into the City or within thirty
(30)days of the dog or cat reaching four(4)months of
age. At all times,the owner or harborer of a dog or cat
living in the City must maintain up-to-date contact
information, including address and telephone number,
with the City Animal Services Division. The fee for any
City performed RFID microchip implant shall be$20.00.
EXHIBIT