State seeks to raise dog license fees Animal welfare division needs funds to implement recommendations

AUGUSTA – Without increased revenue, the Maine Department of Agriculture’s animal welfare division cannot implement many of the changes recommended by a panel of animal welfare advocates more than 21 months ago, officials told legislators Wednesday morning.

The list of issues and recommendations, dubbed “the red report,” will require $1.2 million to implement, Peter Mosher told the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry during a workshop.

The solution, Mosher maintained, is to boost the current fee structure, a move that would triple the department’s annual income. Legislation will come before the committee that will substantially increase licensing fees.

Dog licenses would jump from $4 to $10 for a spayed or neutered dog, and from $7.50 to $20 for a male or female dog. The cost of kennel licenses would double to $30, licenses of for-profit animal shelters would increase to $100 from $20, and research facility licenses would increase to $200 from $50.

“The issue is budget,” said Mosher, who has become a lightning rod for criticism of the Department of Agriculture’s lack of implementation of many of the red report’s recommendations.

The group responsible for the report, however, looked at seven other sources of funding, not wishing to increase just dog licenses.

Anne Jordan, the Animal Welfare Advisory Council’s director, said that other possible revenue sources include licensing cats, taxing pet food and horse feed. “There was a very strong feeling at AWAC to look beyond just dogs,” said Jordan.

During the previous legislative session, the Agriculture Committee refused to raise license fees because it was felt that a higher fee would reduce registrations. “Raising the fees seems like business as usual,” said House Chairman Rep. Linda Rogers McKee, D-Wayne.

She said that less than 50 percent of all dogs are licensed.

“Only 24,000 dogs are licensed in this state and this is a public health issue, aside from the loss of fees,” she said.

McKee asked Mosher why a program wasn’t pursued that allows veterinarians to license dogs at the time of their rabies immunization.

“The AWAC group voted against it because they started getting a lot of heat from vets. The vets are violently opposed,” said Mosher. “We backed off but we recognized there will be those who say that it is not right to have the whole program supported by dogs.”

Offering on-line dog licensing will streamline the program further, said Mosher. “That program is ready to roll,” he said.

Before the debate on increased revenue began, Mosher defended the animal welfare division, pointing out that many of the recommendations in the red report had been carried out. Those not completed were held up by funding or legislative approval, he said.

He said a program director was hired but left after six months, and a new director could be in place by the end of the week.

Mosher also said the committee could expect to see legislation regarding mandatory increased training for animal control officers, a move he said may backfire.

“It is becoming increasingly more difficult, at the local level, to find an ACO who is willing to come out at night, for $8 a hour, and round up animals,” he said.

Currently, ACOs are only required to take an 8-hour course. The new recommendations include background checks, an 8-hour hands-on course, and mandatory refresher education of eight hours annually.

Mosher said another cost-saving measure is the implementation of a low-cost spay-neuter program to reduce the state’s pet population and save an estimated $200,000.

“This is being done in New Hampshire. It is proven to work,” he said.