CITY MAY RAISE FEES ON FERTILE DOGS.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Animal Regulation Commission proposed Monday to raise license fees for unneutered dogs from $30 to $100, hoping to curb the city's animal population by encouraging dog owners to spay or neuter their pets.

The commission, also unanimously, recommended increasing the cost of a breeder's license from $50 to $100.

The recommendations will be submitted to the City Council's Public Safety Committee before being considered by the full council.

``We believe it will significantly impact the pet overpopulation problem, if we have the staffing to enforce it,'' said Dan Knapp, general manager of the Department of Animal Regulation.

That remains uncertain, however, said Gini Barrett, a commission member and director of the western regional office of the American Humane Association.

``I think it's a really good first step in starting to solve some of the unbelievably tragic dog and cat problems we have here in the city of L.A.,'' Barrett said. ``But we have much more work to do and even more important is, if the department doesn't get the kind of personnel and budget and resources we need to enforce it, this won't make a bit of difference.''

Knapp said the department needs 23 new animal enforcement officers, at a cost of $607,000, to enforce the new license fees.

Barrett said the department also is requesting $7 million from the city to meet a new state mandate that animals be kept for six business days instead of three before they are killed.

However, Knapp projects that the ordinance, if approved, would generate $4.2 million in net revenue.

Half of the license fee for unaltered animals - an estimated total of $882,000 - would go to the city's low-cost spay and neuter fund. And half of the breeder's license fee would fund public education on responsible pet care.

For both types of licenses, owners who ignore warnings to license their dogs would have to pay double that amount.

Currently, only 20 percent of Los Angeles dog owners license their pets, although the national average is 36.5 percent, Knapp stated in his report. He said he hopes to more than double that.

Dog club members opposed the ordinance, saying it unfairly penalizes responsible breeders.

``I think it's absolutely ridiculous,'' said Ira Greenberg, a trainer with the Valley Hills Obedience Club. ``We breed to better the breed. We don't breed just to show the facts of life to our kids. So I don't think we should be punished for trying to improve a breed.''

In 1998, the city's animal shelters received 81,272 animals and killed 59,000, Knapp stated in a report to the commission.

``We absolutely believe the significance is that in five years we will have greatly reduced . . . the kill statistic,'' said Gretchen Wyler, president of the Ark Trust and coordinator of the Coalition to End Pet Overpopulation.