Print
E-mail
Comment
Adoption fee established for city animal services
By AUDREY M. MARKS
Pets being adopted from Sugar Land Animal Services will now be vaccinated, spayed or neutered and implanted with a registration microchip before leaving the animal shelter.
Tuesday Sugar Land City Council voted unanimously to charge $100 for pooches and $85 for felines adopted through the city, to recoup the cost of shots, spay and neutering and the high tech registration.
Previously there had been no cost to adopt a pet as the city foot the bill for animals to be vaccinated.
The animals will receive an implantable microchip small enough to pass through a syringe.
The microchip does not work as a tracking device, but stores an identification number and phone number that can be universally read by different brands of scanning devices used by animal services in other cities and counties.
Mike Goodrum, director of community and environmental services for the city, said he doesn’t expect the new fees to slow down the rate of adoptions from animal services.
“There is a definite cost for pet ownership and if someone does not have the funds to pay for [the pet adoption fee] then they are going to have a hard time financially affording an animal,” Goodrum said.
The animal shelter will also be open more often offering expanded hours on Thursdays until 7 p.m. and now Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
City council also approved new regulations for owners ranging from proper animal care to dealing with vicious and pets that could cause harm in the community.
Texas law prohibits regulations based on breed alone.
DANGEROUS DOGS
Under city ordinance, a dog classified as dangerous when it makes an “unprovoked attack in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept.”
Once deemed a dangerous dog, owners must registered their pet with the city and pay a $100 fee.
The city requires dangerous dog owners to obtain $100,000 in liability insurance, keep the animal restrained at all times, wear a dangerous dog collar and have a sign on the property noting there is a dangerous dog.
ANIMAL WASTE DISPOSAL
Pet owners are now required by law to remove pet waste from private property that isn’t theirs.
Citizens wishing to make a complaint about a pet using their yard as a bathroom are required to notify the pet owner of their offense with a certified letter.
If no action is taken by the pet owner, the resident may file the complaint with the City.
The resident will make a sworn statement and the complaint will be handled through the municipal court system.
RESTRAINING ANIMALS
With recent changes to the state law, the city updated their ordinance for the humane treatment of animals.
Dogs may no longer be chained to a fixed object, but must be restrained on a running or trolley line. The new law prohibits the use of pinch, prong or choke type collars while animals are secured to a running line.
Tuesday Sugar Land City Council voted unanimously to charge $100 for pooches and $85 for felines adopted through the city, to recoup the cost of shots, spay and neutering and the high tech registration.
Previously there had been no cost to adopt a pet as the city foot the bill for animals to be vaccinated.
The animals will receive an implantable microchip small enough to pass through a syringe.
The microchip does not work as a tracking device, but stores an identification number and phone number that can be universally read by different brands of scanning devices used by animal services in other cities and counties.
Mike Goodrum, director of community and environmental services for the city, said he doesn’t expect the new fees to slow down the rate of adoptions from animal services.
“There is a definite cost for pet ownership and if someone does not have the funds to pay for [the pet adoption fee] then they are going to have a hard time financially affording an animal,” Goodrum said.
The animal shelter will also be open more often offering expanded hours on Thursdays until 7 p.m. and now Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
City council also approved new regulations for owners ranging from proper animal care to dealing with vicious and pets that could cause harm in the community.
Texas law prohibits regulations based on breed alone.
DANGEROUS DOGS
Under city ordinance, a dog classified as dangerous when it makes an “unprovoked attack in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept.”
Once deemed a dangerous dog, owners must registered their pet with the city and pay a $100 fee.
The city requires dangerous dog owners to obtain $100,000 in liability insurance, keep the animal restrained at all times, wear a dangerous dog collar and have a sign on the property noting there is a dangerous dog.
ANIMAL WASTE DISPOSAL
Pet owners are now required by law to remove pet waste from private property that isn’t theirs.
Citizens wishing to make a complaint about a pet using their yard as a bathroom are required to notify the pet owner of their offense with a certified letter.
If no action is taken by the pet owner, the resident may file the complaint with the City.
The resident will make a sworn statement and the complaint will be handled through the municipal court system.
RESTRAINING ANIMALS
With recent changes to the state law, the city updated their ordinance for the humane treatment of animals.
Dogs may no longer be chained to a fixed object, but must be restrained on a running or trolley line. The new law prohibits the use of pinch, prong or choke type collars while animals are secured to a running line.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
