COUNTY TO RAISE FEES TO LICENSE CANINES UNINCORPORATED AREAS TO GET HIKE.

Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer

LAKE LOS ANGELES - Thousands of Antelope Valley dog owners will have to pay more to license their pets.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is expected Tuesday to raise the dog licensing fee - from $10 to $15 for spayed or neutered dogs and from $20 to $30 for unaltered dogs - for people in unincorporated communities such as Lake Los Angeles, Littlerock and Quartz Hill.

``This is the first time we've raised licenses in 10 years,'' said Bob Ballenger, Los Angeles County Animal Control executive assistant.``Hopefully, it's going to encourage people to spay or neuter their pets.'

Supervisors gave a preliminary vote of approval last week. Two public issues on raising the fee attracted no public testimony, Ballenger said.

The higher fee will go into effect 30 days after the board gives final approval. The fee will affect people buying new licenses and at renewal time in all unincorporated Los Angeles County areas.

Both Lancaster and Palmdale pay Los Angeles County to provide animal control services inside their city limits, but neither has decided whether to hike city dog license fees in line with the county increase.

Officials of both cities said they will talk with county officials about the reasons behind the increase before deciding whether to make a recommendation to council members.

``We'll have to have an internal discussion here,'' said Carol Seidl, Palmdale assistant city manager.

Both cities say their annual animal control bill is more than the fees gathered from pet owners. The excess cost amounts to about $150,000 a year for Lancaster and a budgeted $82,000 this year in Palmdale.

The increase does not affect licensed kennel owners.