Post in Elite (licensed) feline owners, unite!

Mar 22 19:33 UTC

>  I don't understand the connection.  I've always vaccinated and
>  sterilized my cats, but have never and will never license them.  How
>  does paying for a license make it more likely that you will spend even
>  more for vaccination and sterilization?  It's the latter that I would
>  approve of by animal control.

I think that anyone who can conceive of having an indoor only non
sterilized cat hasn't spent much time with non-sterilized cats of
either gender.  With a female, its the noise and with a male, its the
spraying.

I pretty much agree with the sentiment above - since I've been an
adult/lived non-rurally, I've sterilized all my cats.  I would be
willing to pay a small one time registration fee if it meant I would
have a better chance of recovering my cat should it go walkabout, but
a recurring fee?  No way.

In general, I _could_ support the following approach:

* A one time small fee to _register_ your animal.  This fee means that
if your animal is discovered wandering but has some means of
identification, the authorities can get it back to you.  One would not
be required to register their animal, but to not do so may make
recovery much more difficult.

* A small annual fee to _license_ any animal that will be taken onto
public property.  If an animal is found on public property without a
license, the animal's owner is subject to a fine and/or recovery fee.
Licensed animals would be required to be up-to-date on all
vaccinations and whatnot.

The recovery fee would be for animals found running loose and would be
set to basically cover the costs of capturing the animal, keeping the
animal until the owner is found, and finding the owner.  A surcharge
to help cover the costs of animals where the owners aren't found would
be a reasonable addition to this fee.

A fine would be for when the animal is found with the owner on public
property, especially in off-leash areas.  It might also apply to
owners who have an animal that is recovered over a reasonable number
of times.  (Can someone confirm?  It is not currently legal to let
your cat or dog outside unattended and unrestrained, is it?)

I could see the registration fee being a one time charge of something
like $15 for sterilized pets and $35 for non-sterilized pets with a
$20 refund for anyone who gets their pet sterilized at a later date.

As for the licensing fee for people who do want to take their pets
into public areas, it doesn't seem right that cats should pay the same
as dogs.  For one thing, dogs both want and get dog parks.  For
another, most dogs can do far more damage to a person than most cats.
I might do a sliding scale based on the weight of the dog.  Maybe
$10/year for all cats and dogs under 20lbs, $15/year for dogs under 60
lbs and $20/year for dogs over 60 lbs.  Maybe a $10 or $15 surcharge
for non-sterilized animals.  The obvious place to renew the licenses
is at the vet so determining the weight shouldn't be a big deal.

If we're going to have to pay the same amount for cats, we should have
cat parks.  Although, I'm having a rather hard time imagining a cat
park.  I can certainly imagine a neat play space that a cat would
enjoy hanging out in, but I suspect that most felines would be rather
hostile to the idea of sharing it with other cats that they don't
know.  I think in best, its better to have no cat parks and not expect
cat owners to pay as much.

Btw, I noted that the price comparison email I sent last night was
from the wrong address and bounced:

For the same price that it costs to register one neutered cat under
the current rules, I can pay the annual tabs for two motorcycles and
have enough left over for a cup of coffee.

That's Whacked.

And, if the cat isn't whacked, I can pick up a third motorcycle and
add a burger to that cup of coffee.

- phaedrus (jason.goray), 3-6, minneapolis, minnesota, usa, earth.