Some dog owners may not pony up, Animal Services says

The city agency responsible for pets fears some dog owners won't obey a city demand to pay $5 more for canine licenses.

On April 1, the city started charging $36 to license sterilized dogs and $71 for so-called "intact dogs," up from $31 and $66 respectively. The fee hikes were approved in March, when city council passed the 2016 operating budget.

In a business plan published Thursday, Winnipeg's Animal Services special operating agency warns not all dog owners will pay the higher price even though council expects 100-per-cent compliance.

The $5 increase "may lead to non-compliance from pet owners due to an inability or unwillingness to pay higher licensing fees," Animal Services chief operating officer Leland Gordon in a report to city council's innovation committee."This budget contains an assumption that all existing licensed dog owners will renew their licenses at the higher rate."

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While Animal Services has a $3.1 million budget, it only receives $727,000 in tax revenue from the city to conduct its annual operations, which include catching and impoundingdogs and paying the Winnipeg Humane Society to handle cats.

Animal Services relies on fees to cover the rest of its budget. Those fees are going up as the agency strives to become more self-sufficient, Gordon writes his report.

Animal Services says about 49,000 Winnipeg dogs are licensed. Approximately 1,000 of those licenses were issued on a complimentary basis.