"ORDINANCE amending Ordinance No. 2004-0808 to increase the maximum contract amount; approving and authorizing second amendment to contract between the City of Houston and PETDATA, INC for Animal Licensing Services for Houston Department of Health & Human Services - $380,000.00 - General Fund"
I'm sure that this is a followup to the letter that Houston veterinarians have recently received informing them that the city is going to "deputize" them to enforce pet licensing laws. (Click here to read) However, enforcement of pet licensing laws has proven to be a waste of money in other cities and can cause kill rates to rise. The reason is that responsible people are going to be responsible WITHOUT laws. Irresponsible people will remain irresponsible and still will not license their pets no matter how many laws are passed. And when irresponsible people are faced with fines for not having licenses or being over the pet limit, they will DUMP the pet.
This particular law will also drive the very people that BARC & COH needs most, i.e. volunteers and foster parents, "underground" because of Houston's pet limit laws. There is little correlation between number of pets owned and being responsible. BARC leaders should know very well from experience that there are many people in Houston who own only ONE pet yet do not take proper care of it. Conversely, there are many pet owners, especially "failed" foster parents, who are most likely over the pet limit who are VERY responsible pet owners and take excellent care of those pets. Also, do you really want to give BARC the authority to confiscate YOUR pet if you are over the limit? People who are over the pet limit will be forced to avoid vet care, including spay/neuter, for fear of being found out that they are over the limit. This will just add to pet population problem.
Concerned pet owners are already talking about using vets outside of the city limits; getting mail boxes outside the city limits; and even moving outside the city limits for fear of being found out. So instead of encouraging more people to adopt animals so Houston can stop killing so many, BARC/COH are instead antagonizing and punishing the very people they need most.... people who adopt animals and adopt more than one.
Also, our vet bills are going to go up because vets will, most likely, be forced to hire additional staff to process the extra paperwork they are now required to handle. This again PUNISHES the very people that BARC needs, people who adopt and care for animals.
The $380,000 that they plan to spend on licensing would spay/neuter 7,600 female cats and 9,500 male cats at SNAP. Think of how far this money would go towards lowering the kill rate in Houston! Think of how much money this would save the city in the long run when those animals aren't breeding and BARC isn't forced to deal with them later. This is more wasteful spending by our city leaders on programs that will NOT lower the kill rate.
Please see these websites for more information about licensing pitfalls:
http://www.nathanwinograd.com/linked/license.pdf
http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs11?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aacc02915-b98e-411d-9c60-e0990262ffe5Post%3a1c52e013-9fa8-482c-a095-4a154ac9bec3&sid=sitelife.rgj.com
The city has an almost 200 page assessment/manual prepared by no kill expert, Nathan Winograd that tells them EXACTLY how to stop the killing. Pet licensing is not mentioned once in this assessment. The city needs to follow Nathan Winograd's recommendations. This is the only way that Houston will stop the killing.
This ordinance was tagged by Councilmembers Clutterbuck and Holm (which means it wasn't not voted on yet), but it wasn't tagged because it is wasteful and will cause kill rates to rise. They tagged it because they want to look into ways that the public can register and pay online instead of sending in a check.
The ordinance will most likely be voted on next Wednesday (10/21/09) .
Please use this opportunity to contact the Mayor and City council and let them know how you feel about this wasteful spending that will cause more animals to die in Houston. There are better methods available that will save lives and make money for BARC/COH.
CLICK HERE FOR CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
