Registration for Licensing Cats

I remember when very young having somebody from the city visit my parent’s house, to collect fees for a license for our d*g. Different communities handle such things in various ways, with the moneys collected sometimes helping to fund other animal initiatives such as low-cost spay/neuter efforts or vaccination clinics. Recently the city of Irving, Texas approved a new ordinance requiring d*g and cat owners to register their pets with the city or face Class C misdemeanor charges. But officials say it’s not about the fees--it’s aimed at reuniting more lost pets with their owners through built-in incentives. The registration fees are tiered and offer lower costs to pet owners who have their animals microchipped, and to those who have them sterilized. Fees are $5 for animals with a microchip, $10 for sterilized animals that don’t have a microchip, and $15 for pets that have not been sterilized and do not have a microchip. What do you think? Does your community require licensing? Will imposing these fees help spur people to be more responsible, or could it backfire and prompt low-income owners to simply dump pets rather than risking a major fine? The Irving ordinance goes into effect June 1st, but the animal services officers say they’ll push for voluntary; compliance before handing out citations. Leave a comment and let me know what you think about this law!