Councillor Tara McFadden wants town administration to take a deep dive into whether it makes sense to continue licensing dogs and cats.
Instead, she suggests replacing licences with other forms of identification.
“The proposed approach would require dogs and cats to wear visible identification instead,” said McFadden. “The key benefits of removing pet licensing include reduced administration costs and time on our side, as well as cost savings for residents.”
She said the current fees, which are in line with most municipalities, essentially cover the cost of issuing the licences.
Though the debate is scheduled for April 28, some questions and ideas were already raised by Coun. Alex Reed.
Reed, a dog owner, noted the town typically promotes a user-pay model and suggested, for the sake of discussion, that the licence fees should be increased—not eliminated.
“Maybe the fee needs to be higher as opposed to being eliminated, so that we can have more dog parks and have the funds to maintain them—that is, the users of dog parks pay for the services we’re rendering,” he said.
Currently, the town charges $70 for an unaltered male or female dog licence, $35 for a neutered male or spayed female, and no fee for service dogs. Unaltered cat licences cost $40, while neutered male or spayed female cats are $15. All licences for cats under six months old are $15.
Additional fees apply for vicious and nuisance dogs.
McFadden also gave a second notice of motion, calling for the introduction of a suite of municipal civic leadership and engagement opportunities. These include creating a Leadership Cochrane program, drafting terms of reference for community associations and town engagement sessions, reinstating the Mayor’s Youth Council, appointing additional youth to council committees, and creating a citizens’ panel.