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SALT LAKE CITY — Cats in unincorporated Salt Lake County will be required to have licenses under an ordinance approved Tuesday by the Salt Lake County Council.
Of the 4,000-5,000 cats that enter Salt Lake County Animal Services custody each year, only 4 percent are returned to their owners.
License fees will be $5 for cats that are sterilized and have a microchip for identification purposes, while the license fee for cats that have not been sterilized and have no microchip will be $25 a year, according to rates approved by the council.
Salt Lake County Animal Services director Shawni Larrabee said licensing cats should help ensure a larger percentage of them are returned to their owners if they are lost. Of the 4,000-5,000 cats that enter county Animal Services custody each year, only 4 percent are returned to their owners.
Presently, only 22 percent of dog owners in the unincorporated county license their animals. Just 44 percent of lost pets are returned to owners.
Salt Lake County pet licensing fees
| Pet license fee | Fee |
|---|---|
| <b>*New cat fee:</b> Sterilized with microchip | $5 |
| <b>*New cat fee:</b> Unsterilized with no microchip | $25 |
| Unsterilized with no microchip | $45 |
| Unsterilized with microchip | *<b>$25 (reduced fee)</b> |
| Sterilized with no microchip | $10 |
| Sterilized with microchip | $8 |
| *Senior Citizen - unsterilized with no microchip | $25 |
| *Senior Citizen - sterilized with microchip, 1 fee for the life of the pet (when renewed annually) | $5 |
| Senior Citizen - sterilized with no microchip, 1 fee for the life of the pet (when renewed annually) | $25 |
| Transfer fee | $5 |
| Replacement tag | $5 |
| Late license penalty (in addition to regular fee) | $25 |
Larrabee said Calgary, Canada, animal control authorities boast a 90 percent dog licensure rate and an 87 percent "return" rate. For cats, 50 percent of owners comply with license requirements. The rate of return is about 50 percent, she said.
To encourage higher rates of dog licensing, the council also approved a reduction in dog licensing rates to $25 a year for dogs that are unsterilized but have microchips. The rate has been $40.
"This $25 does bring us in line with Salt Lake City," Larrabee said.
In a related move, the council voted to lift limits on the number of dogs or cats permitted in households in the unincorporated county. The ordinance requires that all animals be licensed and properly cared for.
Previously, county ordinances limited households in the unincorporated county to four animals, two dogs or two cats or five animals if one of the pets was adopted from a government or nonprofit animal agency.
The Humane Society of Utah endorsed the policy changes because they should help return more cats to their owners when they are lost. "Retrieval of cats in shelters is very low. Now that they're going to be licensed, it will be much easier for cats to be reunited with their owners," said executive director Gene Baierschmidt.
Baierschmidt said lifting the cap on household pets "has the potential to reduce the number of healthy animals euthanized in shelters."
CLICK HERE for more information on how to license your pets.
Email:mcortez@ksl.com
