City looking to get more dogs licensed

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The City of Hamilton is hounding dog owners to get licenses, and it’s working. In a matter of weeks, two students hired for the summer to go door to door checking for dog licenses have managed to get hundreds more pets registered with the city.

Through census information the city figures that about 95 thousand dogs live in Hamilton, but only 35 thousand are registered. That’s a bit less than 40%. That is not necessarily a bad compliance rate, when you consider that Toronto only has about 30% compliance. But the city wants to get more people to register their dogs. It’s the law. And the students are doing the job so well, the city wants to hire even more of them next year.

Hamilton Animal Control has several dogs that have been picked up by strays. The city believes fewer dogs will be confined here, if more people start registering their dogs.

Ken Leendertse is the Director of Licensing. “We know that if you license your dog, you’re going to be responsible…make sure it has vacinations.” How do they know this? “We ask for that information.”

He says a license is peace of mind for owners too. “When we find a stray dog, we know who the owner is, and we give them a free ride home. ”

Summer students John Alsbergas and Chantelle Verhey were hired five weeks ago and have managed to get 350 more dogs licensed in that time. “They’re surprised by our numbers, and I think we are too. We didn’t think we’d hit this amount.”

Not everyone understands why their dog needs a license. “The majority of people do ask. I just say it’s a safety concern, so we can hold owners accountable for their dogs actions. If their dog gets bit or bites another dog, we know who to call.”

The students have found Dundas and Ancaster residents are more likely to register dogs than those in Waterdown. “We actually run all the streets before we go to them. We can tell which houses do have licenses and which ones don’t.”

So when they knock on a door and a dog barks at a non-licensed home, they leave a compliance notice. Bylaw officers have been following up and ticketing those who ignore the notice. The cost of licensing a spayed or neutered dog is 31 dollars.

The cost of ignoring a notice to comply is a 180 dollar fine.