About Us
Place an Ad
Submit a Letter
Send a Comment
Media Kit
Entertainment
Financial News
Health News
No publications or editions were found!
|
 |
|
|
Pet licenses are now available
Posted: Monday, Dec 08, 2008 - 08:03:34 am CST
by Margaret Palermo - Staff writer
 | | Staff photo by Margaret Palermo
GETTING HER LICENSE - Little Emma looks warm in her turtleneck sweater Thursday as owner Nelda Hill (right) watches Jenny McFarlen of Southwest Texas Veterinary Medical Center fill out the paperwork for a city license tag.
|
|
Though some of the details are still up in the air, local veterinarians are already licensing pets under a new city ordinance first approved by city council in February.
After a delay of several months while registration forms were designed and printed and tags were acquired, local veterinarians are now offering the new licenses.
The ordinance requires that dogs and cats over four months old within the city limits must be licensed. For purposes of the ordinance, Uvalde veterinarians are being considered representatives of the Animal Control Officer.
Licenses must be renewed annually. The first-time license fee is $5. After the first year, the license fee drops to $2 for pets that are spayed or neutered. For people over 65, the fee is $2.
Veterinarian John Barnes said his office, Southwest Texas Veterinary Medical Center on Farm-to-Market Road 3447, has already licensed about 90 animals.
Yvette Hurtado, a receptionist at Uvalde Veterinary Clinic on Milam Street just east of the railroad bridge over U.S. Highway 83 North, said she has sold about 15 licenses. Most of our clients bring their pet in for an appointment and they register the pet at the same time, she said.
Animal Control Warden Julian Arredondo said his department has not yet begun handing out citations for animals that are not licensed, but is advising owners that their animals do have to be licensed. There are a few people who have them, he said of the license tags. At this point, all we're doing is warning people.
For now, he said, the city has granted a grace period for people to get their pets licensed so pet owners have a chance to learn about the new ordinance.
Once the grace period is over, any person who fails to license a dog or cat may be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $100.
The ordinance is not just about getting licenses for pets. There are also rules about how dogs should be confined.
Dogs are required to either be kept in the house or in a fenced yard with a minimum of 25 square feet for each 10 pounds of body weight. For a 100-pound dog, that means an enclosure of at least 250 square feet.
If no fenced yard is available, a dog may be tied out, but the new ordinance requires that either a chain or metal cable be used and it must be a minimum of 15 feet long. The animal should not be tied out for more than eight hours a day. The owner is responsible for preventing the dog from getting tangled.
An animal may also be restrained by an electronic fence.
Arredondo said animal control is not going out of its way at present to look for animals tied improperly. If we're going by there and we see that it's on a leash, we're going to stop and advise them, he said of owners. They have about two days to go back and put a longer chain or cable.
On the other hand, animal control officers will pick up any animal they find running at large. If it's not inside your fence or if it's not tied up, it's running at large if it leaves your property, he said. It's supposed to be tied up if you don't have a fence. If the animal has an electronic collar, of course we won't give owners a ticket for at large because the animal won't leave the property because it will be shocked.
Dogs used for law enforcement and service dogs are exempt from the ordinance.
At present, the veterinary clinics are the only places where the licenses are available, said Arredondo.
|
|
|
|
|
