The amendment increases license fees, creates fines for noncomplying owners and eliminates pet license tags (rabies tags will be used as the pet license number).
Mangus’ comments referred to the removal of a previous recommendation that would have required area veterinarians to submit vaccination records to the city.
However, veterinarians will have the option to license animals at their clinics.
“There was not a desire to force them to do things right now,” Mangus said. “I think the city can continue to have those discussions with vets and partner with them and hopefully grow through voluntary options.”
The city went into this amendment process looking for ways to increase the number of licensed pets.
In 2017, a graduate student in Kansas State University’s Master of Public Administration program presented a project that found approximately 9 percent of the pets in Manhattan are licensed.
The American Veterinary Medical Association indicates that Manhattan’s population of dogs and cats is close to 25,000. In 2017, the city sold 2,307 pet licenses and made $20,106 in revenue (an average of $8.72 per license), which all goes to fund operations at the T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter.
Commissioner Mike Dodson said the city is paying $638,000 for animal shelter operations this year. Last year’s license revenue would cover 3.15 percent of the shelter budget.
“People’s pets are ending up in our shelter,” he said. “They have to be cared for. They have to be paid for. This is unsatisfactory.”
Commissioners all agreed to pass the ordinance but not without a discussion on the necessity of pet licenses. Residents in Manhattan are required by city ordinance to license all dogs and cats over 4 months of age.
Mayor Linda Morse said the cost isn’t really being recovered through licensing, and the low compliance rate means it isn’t an effective safety measure.
“I’m perfectly willing to give up licensing completely,” she said.
Commissioner Usha Reddi said a lack of license doesn’t necessarily mean that owners aren’t taking care of their pets’ health.
“Licensing is a revenue source of sorts for your animal shelter, not necessarily safety because they may have already got their rabies shot at their vet,” she said.
Ultimately, licensing is something that the veterinary community continues to support.
“A license is part of the privilege of owning a pet,” said Tom Schwartz, director of K-State’s Veterinary Health Center.
Commissioner Wynn Butler, who helped initiate the movement toward the amendment, cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s reasoning for licensing, which included the rabies vaccination requirements, education and animal shelter funding.
He said the ordinance is a good process.
“I’ve always liked the idea of process improvement,” he said. “Taking what you’ve got and trying to incrementally make it better.”
Commissioner Jerred McKee said he brought up the concept of no licensing during a recent visit with his dog to the veterinarian, who said the city should continue with licensing.
“I want the experts to say that we should or shouldn’t do this,” he said.
Administrators could still make some adjustments to the pricing before the final approval.
A one-year license fee of $6 for neutered and spayed pets will remain the same. The two- and three-year licenses will increase from $11 and $15 to $13 and $20.
McKee said a KMAN caller pointed out that the three-year license is $2 more than getting three one-year licenses. He advocated for a discount on the three-year license similar to the licenses for unneutered and unspayed pets.
The one, two and three-year licenses for unneutered and unspayed pets will increase from $12, $22 and $30 to $24, $40 and $64.
The amended ordinance also created minimum fines of $50 for first offenses, $100 for second offenses and $500 for third offenses for people who don’t have rabies vaccinations and licenses for their pets.
The fine would be waived if the owners provide the pet license and rabies information to municipal court.
Right-of-way
The commission unanimously approved authorizing the city manager to sign a replat application for Kimball Townhomes and Four Winds Village giving away excess right-of-way on Anderson Avenue.
This involves land to the northwest of the Scenic Drive and Anderson Avenue intersection owned by both Bayer Construction and Kenny Fischer, a plastic surgeon in Manhattan.
The commission’s approval is the start of the process, and the final documents would still need city approval.
In lieu of payment for the land, the applicants plan to file a petition with the city to establish a half-cent transportation development district. The funding would help pay for the West Anderson roundabout project.
The city would also start receiving property tax revenue from the 60,000-square-feet of right-of-way if that property is given to the land owners.