Is Your Falls Church Fido Legal?
By KATHLEEN NEBEKER
Special to the Falls Church Times
March 11, 2010
A total of 697 dogs are registered with the city, a figure, according to City of Falls Church Treasurer Cathy Kaye, representing perhaps half of all the dogs in the City. That’s right, only about half of the dogs in the City are licensed. Is your dog licensed? Why should you care?
Dog licensing started long ago as a way for dog owners to defray the cost to farmers of dogs killing sheep, goats and cows. Today, the main reasons for licensing dogs center on public health and animal safety. The canine rabies vaccination, along with animal control, has largely eradicated rabies in this country. As a result, human rabies deaths from dog bites have dropped precipitously since the 1950’s. Yet, rabies is present in the wildlife population, presenting a risk to domestic dogs and cats, as well as to humans. Licensing dogs provides verification to your community that your dog or dogs are current on their rabies vaccination. If you do not believe your dog will ever encounter a rabid animal, and that the vaccine and license are not necessary, check out the CDC’s data.
Another reason for licensing your dog is that identifying tags provide help to get your dog home should your dog escape from your house or property. Has your dog ever pushed past you as you opened the front door? Slipped out through a gate left open by a child or unthinking adult? Accidents happen. In addition to alerting whoever finds your dog that he or she is vaccinated, the license tag provides a number linked to your address.
City of Falls Church Animal Control Officer Rebecca Keenan reunites lost dogs with their owners on a regular basis. Last year, approximately 40 dogs in the City were reunited with their owners, thanks to tags and the help of animal control. Wearing a tag will also buy your dog more time at the animal shelter should he or she be picked up. Unlicensed dogs may be adopted by another person or euthanized after a five-day holding period. Licensed dogs are given ten days.
If neither reason above for licensing your dog resonates with you, there is yet another reason for licensing your dog. It’s the law. The law states that all dogs over four months of age must be licensed. Unfortunately, the consequences for not licensing your dog verge on nil.
Here’s the code: Sec. 4-57. Failure to obtain license: Every dog for which a license has not been obtained within 30 days after such license is required by law may be taken up wherever and whenever found within the City and kept, unless redeemed by owner, for a period of five days and disposed of as provided in section 4-77.
It’s hard to imagine our local animal control officer seizing unlicensed dogs in the City and carting them to the animal shelter in Arlington, with whom the City contracts for sheltering services. Essentially, this leaves compliance to the good character of the dog-owning citizenry. Levying fines would appear to be a less cumbersome, more efficient way to increase dog-licensing compliance.
The small revenue collected from dog licensing – only about $1,855 last year – goes toward animal control. All residents benefit from having a local animal control officer to handle problems with wildlife, as well as with dogs and cats. The work ranges from capturing bats that get into houses to disposing of dead wildlife to handling cases of suspected rabies exposure. Much of the work entails dealing with dogs in the City. Animal control responds to calls about dogs running loose, dogs barking and, sadly, cruelty and neglect cases. Other responsibilities include cases of dog bites, where the offending dog must be located. As the keeper of three dogs, I’m happy to pay for their licenses, a small tax, to help support this work.
One criticism I have is that the city’s process for licensing dogs is outmoded. Many jurisdictions offer online dog licensing. The City of Falls Church should make online dog licensing available to its citizens, as doing so would likely increase compliance. And, on the subject of online payments, I’d also like the City to provide an online ordering and payment system for the orange stickers we must buy to dispose of our yard waste.
All told, the fee to license your dog in Falls Church is a bargain. The fee is $5 for dogs who have been spayed or neutered, and $10 for all other dogs. Fees for licensing dogs in Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax are at least twice as high. So, what are you waiting for? Do the right thing and license your dog. Licenses my be obtained by visiting the Treasurer’s Office at City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Suite 103E, Falls Church, VA, 22046. Or, download the form and mail it back to the City with your check.
By Special to the Falls Church Times
March 11, 2010
A couple of questions come to mind that perhaps those in the know can answer.
First, are cats required to be licensed? I didn’t see anything in the code about it, so if they aren’t, why aren’t they? Rabies is a concern with cats, too (up 12% from 2007 to 2008, according to the CDC, compared to about a 20% decline for dogs in the same period.) And I’m sure that animal control officers have responded to cat cruelty complaints, have reunited cats with owners, etc. All residents benefit from animal control, so why are dog owners singled out? Granted, $5 or $10 is minor in the grand scheme of things, but cat licensing could help the animal control coffers as well.
Second, are there plans to update the (1973) dog code? It, too, is outmoded. Many dog owners microchip their dogs (it’s compulsory for dog adoption from the Arlington shelter) and consider that to be the license for their pet. Would the City accept proof of microchip as a license?
Thanks.
Victoria,
The same thoughts came to mind regarding cats when I was writing this essay. Fall Church City does not require cats to be licensed. Yet, Alexandria does. The fee for cats in Alexandria is $2 for spayed/neutered and $10 for all others. Multi-year licenses are $5 for spayed/neutered and $25 for all others. Licensing cats, while not common, is not unheard of. I see plenty of pet cats out and about in the neighborhood, but I believe that if a cat were to tangle with a raccoon, it would probably lose the fight and be killed. That said, people lose their cats, etc., and also add to the work load of animal control and should probably shoulder some of the cost.
I don’t know if there are any plans to update the 1973 code. Someone else may know. Another article, perhaps.
Re: your comments about the licensing process being outmoded, that is, no online service–I recently realized that Falls Church Water has no online service to speak of, either. The other localities do, and it would be very customer-friendly to have the extra money collected in the water fund used for online payments and to be able to check your account online.
Using money collected from the water fund to provide online services for many more city customer functions would make a lot of sense; why isn’t the money being used this way, or if it is, to a greater extent, instead of putting it aside for uses other than city services?
Specifically, I recall an item recently about the Wilden project in which it was proposed that money from the water fund be used to help finance it (which idea was apparently later withdrawn). When the city could be improving customer service for utlilities and legally-required payments like dog licensing and real estate tax payments–both things that other localities have provided online for some time now–it bugs me that there’s even a proposal to use the water fund money for something so completely unrelated to the purpose for which the money was collected.
Why should it be hard to imagine the animal control officer seizing unlicensed dogs and taking them to the shelter? Isn’t that her job? Kind of reminds me of the argument about businesses not shoveling their snow and receiving no ticket. Which shall it be? It also seems to me that a city this size does not need an animal control officer – especially if they are not expected to do their jobs.
Susanna,
I’d like to see online payments for everything city-related and avoid all possible trips to City Hall. I’d pay extra for the convenience. Orange yard waste tags, dog licenses, special collection fees for garbage, water and sewer – everything. The city’s website indicates something new is afoot with the water and sewer payments: http://www.fallschurchva.gov/Content/OnlineServices/default.aspx?cnlid=5
Damien,
The animal control officer has plenty of work to do besides hauling unlicensed dogs over to the Arlington shelter. Below is the description of the Animal Control Officer’s duties. I found the information in the city’s proposed budget for next year.
As to your comment on why the city doesn’t do more to enforce the licensing law, the short answer is that they lack data. Tracking down dogs who do not have a current license would require a database listing all dogs in the city. Nothing like that exists. We don’t have a dog census. And, the reporting system for rabies vaccinations has flaws, so the city does not even know the location of each and every vaccinated dog in the city. Notices concerning licensing are sent out to owners of known vaccinated dogs and the renewal rate is very high. When animal control responds to calls involving unlicensed dogs, however, the officer can take the dog away as stated in the code. An unshoveled sidewalk, in contrast to unlicensed dogs, is much more obvious violation. Why the snow removal ordinance is not enforced in a timely manner is a good question.
“The Animal Control Officer handles all cases involving domestic and wild animals in the City. The City receives calls on a daily basis concerning animals running at large, animal cruelty, animal bites, nuisance wildlife and rabies concerns. The Animal Control Officer receives approximately 30 phone calls per day, answers between 750-800 calls for service each year and secures approximately 350 animals per year. Additionally, the Animal Control Officer maintains the Animal Control Division and vehicle, maintains all necessary/mandated logs, contacts, written reports and handles administrative matters concerning the division.”
Thanks for the revenue number – One wonders what it costs to run the licensing program and what the fee should be in order to cover the cost.