Ames City Council passed a motion on Tuesday to hear the pet licensing ordinance at a later date, tentatively as late as February. The council needs more analytics on the issue, prepared by staff of the city, before making final decisions.
Specific information on the Ames pet licensing program can be found on the Ames City Council agenda.
Ames Police Chief Geoff Huff briefed the council on the benefits of the pet licensure program.
“Ames is one of only two cities in Iowa in top 15 by population and the only university town in Iowa that doesn’t have a pet licensing program,” Huff said.
“A couple of key benefits, faster reunification of lost pets with their owners so we can trace those licenses 24/7,” Huff said. “We’ll hold pets a little bit longer when they’re licensed so we can reunify them, it ensures rabies compliance… about 80% of pets coming into the shelter do not have a collar or identification.”
“This is also a disincentive to own more pets than you can reasonably care for,” Huff said. “Every single year, sometimes multiple times a year, we find pets living in really terrible conditions. We’ve had cases where 30 or more cats were living in an apartment and we’ve had a case where 27 cats were living in a vehicle.”
During public discussion of the pet licensing ordinance, five Ames residents spoke in opposition to the policy, and no resident spoke in support.
“There is a large concern on why reputable breeders who don’t let their dogs run at large or are responsible for a large amount of dogs are incurring the cost of reunification,” Briar Ote, the secretary of the Ames Cyclone Kennel Club, said.
“Spay and neutering of large breeds is 12 to 18 months, if not 24. So, if you have a puppy or a growing dog that needs to stay intact for the longevity of their health, is it fair that you are being charged the extra $12 a year?” Ote said.
“There is an astonishing lack of data present,” Jayce Conrad, the owner of Sweet Whiskers cat grooming business in Ames, said. “Nationwide, we know these programs are not efficient, they have historically horrendous compliance rates, and they drive citizens to hide their pets.”
In response to the public forum, Huff said the discrepancy between $12 and $24 “was on purpose to encourage spay and neutering.”
“It would be reasonable to exempt service and therapy animals potentially from the ordinance, but we may need to do more thinking on that,” Huff said.
Ward One Rep. Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen said the ASPCA (American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is in favor of pet licensing programs for companion animals.
“The ASPCA strongly supports fee differentials for intact versus spay or neutered pets,” Beatty-Hansen said.
Ex-Officio Emily Boland asked if Ames city staff could contact the Department of Residence and some property management companies in Ames.
“So we can get some input from those who might be affected because they’ll have all the data on who has pets in apartments and residence halls,” Boland said.
After discussion, the motion passed to discuss the program further with a vote of 5-2.
The council then discussed the relocation of the fire station from Welch Avenue to a 29-acre parcel of land on Iowa State University property. Currently, the 29-acre site features natural grasses, landscaping and row crops.
The city and Iowa State University will enter into a 50-year lease of the land, with the option to renew the lease. Should the lease not be renewed, the land must be returned in the same condition as it was when the city received it. During the lease, the ecosystem will be respected to the best of the city’s abilities.
