County taking bigger bite for dog fees.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

You'll pay more for dog licenses and kennel permits in Lane County from now on - unless you hustle in before the end of this month to take advantage of amnesty for unregistered pets.

The fees for the most part remain modest, but the hikes are steep: A one-year license for an altered dog is $15 under the new schedule, up from $10; and $35 for an unaltered dog, up from $25.

But the higher fees will raise more money that should result in more lost animals finding their way home and many fewer cats and dogs being euthanized.

Mike Wellington, manager at Lane County Animal Regulation Authority, says part of the new license fees adopted recently by the county commissioners will go toward helping lower-income residents of Lane County and the city of Eugene spay and neuter their cats and dogs.

That should cut down the number of unwanted animals put to sleep at LCARA.

Owners of noncommercial, commercial and boarding kennels will pay higher fees for those operations, too, and $50 of each permit will be dedicated to public education about the importance of licensing companion animals as well as supporting spay/neuter services.

The new fees, in conjunction with some shuffled funding in the county budget that went into effect a week ago, also will allow LCARA to reopen its 40-cage cattery, which has been out of use for the past year because of a lack of funds.

Starting Aug. 1, hours at LCARA's kennel and cattery at 3970 W. First Ave., off Bertelsen Road in west Eugene, will expand to 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Licensing and altering pets "is simply part of responsible pet ownership," Wellington said. "In the long run, a good identification program will save taxpayers a lot of money, because we can get pets home before they ever get brought in here."

The recent Fourth of July holiday offers a good example, he said.

Every year, LCARA's kennel fills up with dogs and cats frightened away from home by the boom and sizzle of fireworks.

Animals that have collars and ID tags or microchips often get returned to their homes quickly.

Others may not be reunited with their owners at all.

"We returned quite a few dogs home over the phone after the Fourth," Wellington said.

"Some people called in, gave us the dog's license tag number, and we were able to tell (kennel officials) where the dog lived so they could take it home.

`The last thing we want is for somebody's animal that's already lost and scared to have to come here to our shelter."

Animals that don't have ID tags but have microchips have the next-best chance of a quick trip home, because when they're brought to LCARA they're immediately scanned to see if they're on a microchip registry.

Starting in August, LCARA will begin offering a volunteer registry for cats and dogs younger than 6 months old - older canines by law must be licensed - by issuing ID tags and recording microchip numbers.

Lane County has not raised its licensing fees for a decade, Wellington said, and he hopes most people will not mind paying more if it means increasing the chances of lost pets being retrieved.

"We're pursuing the best service we can offer, and we hope that it will get much better - that's what these increases are all about," he said.

NEW LANE COUNTY ANIMAL LICENSE FEES

The Lane County commissioners increased license fees, but they're giving owners of unlicensed dogs until Aug. 1 to register at the old rate.

Unaltered dogs: $35 for one year; $55 for two years;

$70 for three years

Altered dogs: $15 for one year; $25 for two years;

$35 for three years

Juvenile dogs: Voluntary registration for $5 for dogs younger than 6 months old

Cats: Voluntary registration for $4 a year for altered cats,

$8 for unaltered cats

Noncommercial kennel fee: $150 a year

Commercial kennel fee: $250 a year

Commercial breeding kennel: $350 a year for three to 10 dogs older than 6 months old

- Lane County Animal Regulation Authority

CAPTION(S):

Mike Wellington, manager at the Lane County Animal Regulation Authority, tends to dogs that landed at the pound after the Fourth of July holiday. Lane County has not raised its licensing fees for a decade. Laurie Fierling is reunited with her 7-year-old terrier, Chloe, at the county shelter after the pet dug under the fence during July 4 fireworks.