Wichita City Council members will be looking at changes to regulations governing pets and animal services. The recommendations were made by a subcommittee of the city’s Animal Services Advisory Board that looked at a variety of issues, and staff members presented the recommendations to the City Council during a workshop discussion on Tuesday. There was a recommendation to license dogs and cats, but assistant city attorney Jan Jarman said the staffing is not available to support the licensing of cats, and there is more work to do to license dogs in the community. She said the better option will be to work on dog licensing rates and look at cat licensing at a later time. There’s a recommendation to keep the licensing fee at $15 for dogs that have been spayed or neutered, and raising it to $40 or $50 for dogs that haven’t been spayed or neutered. The discount for fencing or microchipping would be eliminated. Citizens could also get a license for up to three years, depending on the animal’s vaccination. Another recommendation would be to mandate microchipping for dogs and cats, to make it easier to return lost animals to their homes. There’s also a recommendation to allow three dogs and three cats per household, and any more pets would require an animal maintenance permit.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
