GENTRY -- Officials in Gentry are looking at ways to control feral cats and better manage the licensing of dogs in the city, and both topics have been the subject of recent discussions in city council committee meetings.
To control and reduce the numbers of feral cats in Gentry, a plan of trapping, neutering and releasing is being considered.
In a plan submitted to the police committee by Mark Smithson, Gentry's animal control and code enforcement officer, he is proposing the city establish a trap, neuter and release program to reduce the numbers of stray cats in the city. According to information Smithson provided to committee members, cats would be trapped, checked for illness, spayed or neutered, vaccinated for rabies, marked on the ear tip and released where they were captured.
Smithson said Pro-Vet of Siloam Springs has agreed to perform the services for $40 per animal. Animals which are diseased would be euthanized.
The plan, if adopted, would be a step in reducing the growing numbers of feral cats and would help to prevent the spread of disease from feral cats to domesticated animals.
"If people do not want to have their cats spayed or neutered, it would require that they keep them in," Smithson said.
Though the city does not currently license cats, city code does require cats to be vaccinated against rabies and to wear a current rabies vaccination tag. The city does not currently have impound facilities for stray cats, though adding such facilities has been discussed in the past.
In regard to dogs, Smithson and Gentry's animal control services are proposing the possibility of issuing three-year licenses instead of one-year licenses. Smithson said this may work better for residents so that they don't need to remember to get a new license by Jan. 1 of each year.
He said, the three-year licensing was workable because many people are getting the three-year rabies vaccinations for their dogs rather than getting the vaccination each year.
Also being proposed is a micro radio-frequency identification chip for each dog rather than issuing a metal tag to be worn on a neck collar. The chips would identify each animal and would be associated with a data file with a digital photo of the dog, the owner's name, address, telephone number and current vaccination information.
That way, according to Smithson, dogs which wander off can be easily identified and returned to their owners even if not wearing a collar. Rabies vaccination information placed on file at the time of licensing would also be readily available in the event of a dog bite even if owners have misplaced the vaccination certificates.
Smithson proposed a first-time three-year license cost $15 for animals which are spayed and neutered and $25 for animals not spayed or neutered. The fee would cover the one-time cost of the chip at $9.50 each and in the long run be less expensive than issuing new tags each year at the cost of $4.23 each. Smithson said the three-year renewal fee for a dog already chipped would be $10 for spayed and neutered animals and $20 for those not spayed or neutered.
Smithson suggested the license fee could include one "get out of pound free" card per license term.
Together with the proposal, Smithson suggested the following fees for dogs picked up by animal control: $40 for unlicensed and un-chipped dogs (which would include the cost of chipping the animal and taking a photo of the dog for its file); $10 for chipped dogs returned to their owners; and $25 for chipped dogs if the owners cannot be found. Currently, the city charges $25 per day for dogs picked up by animal control.
Attached to information provided to the committee was a copy of Fayetteville's city code requiring dog and cat owners to have an RFID chip implanted in both dogs and cats and to register and vaccinate their animals and a proposed ordinance for Gentry.
Warren "Bud" Norman, former animal control officer in Gentry and now an animal services supervisor in Rogers, said a voluntary chipping program might work better. He suggested lower impound and licensing fees for animals which are chipped and higher fees for those not chipped to encourage voluntary micro-chipping.
Whether micro-chipping will be required or offered on a voluntary basis by the city has yet to be decided. But it does seem clear that the chipping of dogs for easier identification purposes will at least be encouraged in any law change in the city.
"We want to get lost and straying animals back to their owners," said Smithson, explaining that the city wanted to keep the number of impounded animals to a minimum and quickly return any animals which wander off or get away from their owners.
According to Kevin Johnston, Gentry's mayor, more review and discussion is planned at the committee level before an ordinance change will be brought to the city council, but that may be done soon if a committee meeting can be scheduled before the next council meeting.
General News on 04/29/2015