Vanderhoof is changing up how they licence pets.
The District says they’ve sold 82 dog tags this year bringing in $960. The current system has a $10 fee for spayed and $30 for non-spayed dogs.
Mayor Gerry Thiessen says there is obviously more than 82 dogs in Vanderhoof.
“The whole idea of animal licenses is that each animal is licensed in the community, and certainly the amount of money we were receiving from the license fees was not covering the cost of what we were doing.”
On Monday night, Mayor and Council voted to make animal licenses completely free of charge.
“That way it really encourages people to license their animals. But then if they are not licensed and are caught by the animal control officer there will be a substantial fee.” Thiessen says
The fine suggested by District staff was $100, which is up from the current $40 impound fee.
Thiessen says the bylaws will be rewritten in time for the start of 2016.