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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8146 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8146 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council r+ July 21, 1998 Subject: Page 1 of 3 ►.x.� REVISED FEE SCHEDULE FOR THE ANIMAL CONTROL DIVISION AND REVISION OF THE ANIMAL AND FOWL CHAPTER OF THE CITY CODE The City of Fort Worth Animal Care and Control Center is scheduled to begin accepting animals on Monday, July 27, 1998. New Fee Schedule for Animal Control On January 22, 1998, the City Internal Audit Department performed a study of the projected costs for animal control services including the cost of boarding the animals at the Animal Care and Control Center. The Audit Department projected that the cost of boarding an animal at the center would be $8.00 per day. Currently the boarding fee is $7.25 per animal per day. Staff is recommending a$ .75 fee increase. In regards to license tags, currently citizens who purchase the tags at City offices are charged three dollars more than if they had bought the tags at their veterinarian's office. Staff is recommending that the Animal Care and Control Center sell the license tags to the citizens at the same rates as veterinarians, $7.00 for altered pets and $12.00 for unaltered pets. Finally, staff is recommending the addition of fees for the adoption of animals from the center based upon a survey of the area. The proposed fee includes rabies vaccination, city license tag, spay/neuter voucher and first inoculation. The proposed adoption fee for dogs is $60.00 and the adoption fee for cats and ferrets is $40.00. The Humane Society of North Texas charges $70.00 for unaltered dogs and $60.00 for unaltered cats and $60.00 for altered dogs and $55.00 for altered cats. Attached is a copy of the proposed fee schedule. Revision of the Animal and Fowl Chapter of the City Code Attached is a red line copy of the changes to the Animal and Fowl Chapter of the City Code. There are 3 major categories of changes to the Animal and Fowl Chapter. 1. Complying with new State Laws and Regulations: A. Addition of ferrets to the nonprohibited animal list and new quarantine procedures for ferrets. The Texas Administrative Code lists ferrets as a non prohibited animal. Also on July 13, 1998, the Texas Department of Health changed the quarantine period for domestic ferrets from 30 days to 10 days. The ordinance reflects these changes. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FOR INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8145 00-1-'11k,0 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council o•�� July 21, 199$ t Page 2 of 3 Subject. >txr` REVISED FEE SCHEDLTLE FOR THE ANIMAL CONTROL cars DIVISION AND REVISION OF THE ANIMAL AND FOWL CHAPTER OF THE CITY CODE B. New Dangerous Dog Legislation Presently, if a dog commits an act which could classify it as dangerous, the dog would stay at large until the animal control authority determined that it was dangerous and would remain at large another 30 days until the owner complied with the requirements of the law. Since September 1, 1997, the Health and Safety Code has allowed municipalities that pass an ordinance to have new dangerous dog procedures. The new procedures allow the municipal court, upon the filing of a report of a dangerous dog incident, to issue a warrant for the dog within 5 days of the incident if the dog is not brought to animal control voluntarily. The statute then allows animal control to keep the dog impounded until municipal court holds a hearing to determine if the dog is a"dangerous dog." The hearing must be held within 10 days of the dog's impoundment. If the court determines that the dog is dangerous, the owner can reclaim the dog and keep it at his or her residence for 30 days to comply with the requirements of the law. C. Complying with new regulations regarding quarantine procedures. The Department of Health issued new regulations regarding quarantine procedures for low and high risk animals and for the observation of the animal during quarantine. Since the City will be operating its own shelter, these new procedures are included in the ordinance. D. Complying with State law regarding adoption procedures. The ordinance contains the new procedures in the Health and Safety Code regarding adoption of animals. These new adoption procedures include providing notice to animal control if the animal dies or is lost or stolen before sterilization. 2. New Adoption and Reclaiming an Animal Procedures Since the City will be operating its own animal shelter, the ordinance contains a new provision which states that to reclaim or adopt an animal, a person must present photo identification to Animal Control and Animal Control shall make a copy of the identification for the file. This will make it easier to identify an owner if any questions arise later. r f 1,G, ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No._ s146 d`'"T To the Mayor and Members of the City Council ' July 21, 1998 4P Subject: Page 3 of 3 r:.s �m REVISED FEE SCHEDULE FOR THE ANIMAL CONTROL DIVISION AND REVISION OF THE ANIMAL AND FOWL CHAPTER OF THE CITY CODE 3. Housekeeping changes The following is a list of the major housekeeping changes: A. Definition section Words no longer used in the ordinance have been deleted and new words have been added. New definitions under state law have been added. B. "Hearing officer" has been changed to "city health officer". C. "Animal Control Administrator" has been changed to "Animal Control Manager." D. Any permissive language has been changed to mandatory language. Unless City Council objects, staff will bring the revised fee schedule and ordinance to City Council on July 28, 1998 for action. If you have any questions, please call Libby Watson, Assistant City Manager or Bob Galvan, Director of Public Health. Bob Terre City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FO '"TH S XASrt°