Government Waste: Animal Licenses and the Animal License Police

[chr5648]

This is rant and rave, so I'm gonna rant and rave.

Today as I was pleasantly watching the world cup, my door bell rings. My first thought is F*** you to whoever is there trying to sell me something. So I go and check and I see '2 youths' (late teens/early 20's) and I ask them whats up expecting to be barraged for donations or candy to be sold. They tell me they are from the town, proudly showing their township of ______ badges. Next they tell me they are licensing animals and ask if I have any, I say no and they promptly leave.

At this point I am laughing my ass off at the buffoonery of my town and the ideology of more government sweeping the country.

1) Okay I understand there may be some merits to registering animals for health reasons and such, but it does nothing more than give some bureaucrat a desk job and a small revenue to the town.

2) I think its stupid to register animals, just dumb as heck, ITS AN ANIMAL for gosh shakes.

3) This so called 'job' given to these 'youths' or overgrown children as I like to call them was probably created by some bureaucrat for their kids, neighbors, or friends, its not like this job was publicly posted. More government redistribution to the ones connected to the bureaucrat.

4) Its a waste of money to pay these youths to do this, NJ is bankrupt, who the hell are you gonna tax for more money. Just more stupid marxist redistribution. The ever expanding government.

5) This is the most important point, somehow, the 'town' or 'state' now has enough power or the power was silently given without protest, to go around, house to house and check for animals. Whats next? do you flush the toilet, a toilet water wasting police? what about a carbon footprint police? recycling police? thought police? tv police, to make sure you watch government run programming? diversity police? food police, dont' eat those salty products?. Before long these people will silently give the right over to the state so all these f******* 'pseudo police' forces will enter your house and tell you how to live.

This is a slow and steady process that takes years, first its animal tags, then whats next?

[don]

Re: Government Waste: Animal Licenses and the Animal License Police

Shaggy Dog Story:

I never licensed my dogs. Living in the country it never came up until...I changed vets. Then my old vet- no wrath like a veterinarian scorned- turned me in!

That (licensed) dog lived to be 17. Her replacement now wears her tags. On the renewal form was a box for changes. I entered the new dog's name. No problemo.

Do you think the county's only in it for the dough?

[chr5648]

Re: Government Waste: Animal Licenses and the Animal License Police

Shaggy Dog Story:

I never licensed my dogs. Living in the country it never came up until...I changed vets. Then my old vet- no wrath like a veterinarian scorned- turned me in!

That (licensed) dog lived to be 17. Her replacement now wears her tags. On the renewal form was a box for changes. I entered the new dog's name. No problemo.

Do you think the county's only in it for the dough?

The town/county is in it for the power, to tax, to spend, to regulate, to make jobs that needn't be, to create precedent for new .gov powers

[ggirod]

Re: Government Waste: Animal Licenses and the Animal License Police

Usually the licensing procedure has two purposes. First it facilitates returning lost pets to the owners as quickly as possible to reduce costs for dog catchers and kennels. Second, it assures rabies vaccination so when fido or fifi bites somebody the victim doesn't have to undergo up to three weeks of exquisitely painful intra-abdominal injections of rabies vaccine pending results of examining the brain of the animal. I have never seen such a program that produced any revenue whatsoever except that required to administer it, so, no, it is not a profit center.

[chr5648]

Re: Government Waste: Animal Licenses and the Animal License Police

Usually the licensing procedure has two purposes. First it facilitates returning lost pets to the owners as quickly as possible to reduce costs for dog catchers and kennels. Second, it assures rabies vaccination so when fido or fifi bites somebody the victim doesn't have to undergo up to three weeks of exquisitely painful intra-abdominal injections of rabies vaccine pending results of examining the brain of the animal. I have never seen such a program that produced any revenue whatsoever except that required to administer it, so, no, it is not a profit center.

My first point 1) accepts that there maybe some merits. Nonetheless, they now go door to door checking, I have never seen or heard of this, anywhere and anytime.

[c1ue]

Re: Government Waste: Animal Licenses and the Animal License Police

Pet licensing may not be a profit center...yet

But clearly they could bring in more money...

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/SF-d...-83719042.html

SAN FRANCISCO — Dog owners shirking their responsibility to license their pets are costing The City hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.
San Francisco Animal Care and Control estimates there are as many as 150,000 dogs living in San Francisco, yet only about 15,000 are licensed with The City. The 10 percent compliance rate is among the lowest in the Bay Area, said Rebecca Katz, interim director for the department.
And at a time when The City is facing a more than $500 million budget shortfall, every penny counts. The agency, which is being asked to cut as much as 20 percent from its $3 million budget, is stepping up efforts to get those unlicensed dogs registered and collect those fees. The department has launched an education campaign dubbed “To Be a Hero.”
“That’s how we see it,” Katz said. “Licensing your dog can help so many animals in our operation.”
Dog licenses are the No. 1 source of revenue for the department. In 2007-08, Animal Care and Control collected more than $260,000 from dog licenses. A license for a neutered or spayed dog is $15 a year and for non-altered dogs it is $28 annually.
“It’s a major source of revenue for this department, which is how we are able to help other animals — cats, dogs, wildlife,” Katz said.
It’s especially important now when shelters are facing a 15 percent increase in the number of pets being dropped off by owners who can no longer care for them, Katz said.
It’s not just about collecting money. In order to renew a dog license, owners must prove their dog’s rabies vaccination is current. Also, if a licensed dog gets lost, it’s easier to reunite the pet with the owner, Katz said.
As part of the campaign, department officials will go door-to-door asking dog owners to license their pets. Also, they plan to hold registration drives at local pet stores, and soon they want to make it easy to get a dog license online, Katz said.
An education campaign would help because a big part of the problem is that many dog owners don’t realize they need to renew their licenses every year, said Sally Stephens, chair of San Francisco Dog Owner’s Group, a nonprofit dog group.
“We always support licensing your dog,” Stephens said. “It’s a necessary thing, if for no other reason that people who don’t like dogs use it as a reason to argue dog owners are irresponsible.”
Dogs in The City
There are between 120,000 and 150,000 canines in S.F.
- 15,000 are licensed.
- It costs $15 to register neutered or spayed dogs, and $28 for dogs that are not neutered or spayed.
- Dog licenses bring $260,000 in revenue to The City.
Source: S.F. Animal Care and Control

A mere 80% compliance rate would potentially mean $1.5M in additional annual revenue to the city of SF - and that's BEFORE license cost increases...