When Lisa Blum and her 2-year-old hound, Chloe, moved to Denver a little more than a year ago, she was dismayed to find that the city requires pet owners to continuously license their animals.
It’s a process she views as repetitive and unnecessary.
“It’s just a hassle to remember to do among all the other things I have going on,” said Blum, who used to have family in Carlisle, Pa., where the city’s animal control offices offer lifetime licenses to owners by implanting a microchip into their pets. “It would be nice if Denver pursued something similar. It would be much more efficient for the owners.”
Blum might be barking up the right tree. The City Council on Monday considered a measure that would allow residents the opportunity to buy a lifetime license for their pets, instead of the one- and three-year licenses now available.
The move would make Denver the first city in Colorado to offer such a license for pets.
Currently, annual licensing costs the city’s pet owners $15, while triennial licensing is $40.
For a lifetime license, Doug Kelley, director of Denver Animal Care and Control, is proposing the city charge $150.
Kelley said that figure is derived from the thought that dogs on average live 10 years, while their feline compadres live 12 years.
“We did a survey in December and January of 1,500 pet owners in the city to see how we can better suit them,” said Kelley, who expects to see a modest increase in revenue. “One thing that was very clear is that people want the option to have a lifetime license.”
Under the plan, lifetime pet licensing would be offered as an option and won’t replace the one- and three-year licenses the city already has in place.
Pet owners who reside outside of the city but use Denver’s off-leash parks are also required to have their pets licensed, according to Denver Animal Care and Control.
If caught without a valid license for their pet, owners could receive a citation of up to $200.
In 2010, 18,505 pet licenses were issued in Denver. That means only about 10 percent of dogs are licensed in the city, Kelley said, and it’s even less for cats at around 5 percent.
Councilman Charlie Brown is upset that Denver has done such a bad job of enforcing the licensure of dogs.
“Our record is embarrassing,” Brown said. “This is not a nicety. This is something the residents have to do. No one has put together a marketing campaign to make them do it. It’s very disappointing. Why have a law if you are not going to enforce it?”
Dog owner Chris DeHeart said that one-time licensing could encourage more people to actually follow the law and get their pets licensed with the city.
“People just waver from licensing a pet because it’s just something minor,” DeHeart said while at the Josephine Gardens dog park, where he played with his dog Jags, a shepherd and boxer mix.
If the measure is passed by the City Council on final vote next week, Kelley said, lifetime licensing could go into effect as early as October.
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer contributed to this report.
Kurtis Lee: 303-954-1655 or klee@denverpost.com
