PÉTITION BERGER BLANC

Calgary a leader in pet licensing
JENNY YUEN, TORONTO SUN

FIRST POSTED: SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2011 6:02:09 EDT PM

Calgary uses its pet licensing system to lead the fight against animal euthanasia.
Unlike Toronto’s system, the program boasts the compliance of most of the city’s pet owners.

“My citizens gladly pay it because their animals are coming home safe and sound,” said Bill Bruce, Calgary’s director of animal and bylaw services. “About 87% of our dogs who get lost go straight home and 55% of our cats go home. If your licensing rate is at 30%, your return rate is going to be within 5% of that.”

The city has asked residents what services they would like in exchange for paying licensing fees. The dialogue turned the act of licensing into an engaging and positive interaction.

“We do a lot to add value to the licence. It’s not ‘Licence your pet, it’s the law ... or else,’” said Bruce. “We want to see the number of impounded animals decreasing. We want to see euthanasia drop. We want to see return to owner very high. That’s the most cost-effective customer service we can give ... is to bring the lost animal home to you.”

When owners pick up their lost cat or dog, they pay $40 to cover the cost of caring for the animal.

“It’s making sure every nickel is going back into animals in the community. I don’t get any tax dollars to run animal control. It’s all funded through this,” he said.

Some of the money — $250,000 — has been sent to their local Humane Society to help develop animal training programs.

The licensing program also funds a free animal sterilization program for low-income Calgarians which reduces the number of unwanted pups and kittens.

“We have very low euthanasia; we have low dog aggression; we have no breed bans; we have no pet limits ... It’s a very open, collaborative system we’ve built to try to rebuild trust with my community to animal services,” he said.

The city established a rewards program card in 2010 for residents who pay annual fees and keep their pets out of trouble.

Card recipients can log on to Iheartmypet.ca to obtain discounts for everything from oil changes to clothing.

“You get one blouse and you’ve already got the value of your licensing back,” said Bruce.