Just after Christmas, we posted about the city’s plan for a crackdown on unlicensed pets. Tonight the P-I checks in on how it’s going; apparently dog owners are obeying, cat owners generally aren’t.
West Seattle, Washington
19 Friday
Just after Christmas, we posted about the city’s plan for a crackdown on unlicensed pets. Tonight the P-I checks in on how it’s going; apparently dog owners are obeying, cat owners generally aren’t.
Why? Cat owners don’t need to take their Cats out for walks for everyone to see and aren’t a danger to society like Dogs are. Dog owners have a higher risk of their dog becoming violent in public. Its ridiculous and stupid that you need to be licensed as a Cat owner. Its only about collecting money that’s all.
I don’t like the cat license policy. Maybe requiring chipping would make more sense. The number of cats at shelters is sad but an indoor cat that is licensed would have no better chance of getting home, since most indoor cats don’t wear collars. Cats are have an increased risk of injuring themselves while wearing a collar. Even a “break-away” collar is not reliably safe for all cats. I agree that it seems to be about the money and not the cat’s safety.
Why make this a pity party for yourselves? Are people walking their dogs such a blight on the landcsape? Dogs a “danger to society”? Are you high? Yes, dog ownership is such the slippery slope. One day Rover is chewing your shoes, the next he’s joyriding the neighbor’s BMW. You poor cat owners. The Man is always out to get you. Sheesh. What a load of crap!
Has nothing to do with killer “violent dogs” or your precious “indoor cats”. The pet license fees are used to take care of (in various ways) neglected, stray, and abused animals. It’s not just “about the money”. It’s about responsible pet owners picking up the slack for the a-holes. And as a responsible pet owner you should care about your city’s ability to address the issue. Also, a 2 year cat license (spayed or neutered) is $22. If you can afford that cat (or 12) you can afford $11 a year, you whiners. And while I’m on a roll, will you dog owners PLEASE understand Lincoln Park is not an off-leash park? That’s a leash in your hand. Attach it to your dog. Thank you.
Bill, I don’t own any animals but your philosophy on affording $11 per year for a cat license is severely flawed. Local government should not have the right to impose a MANDATORY license to own a domesticated animal. If I chose to own a cat, I see NO REASON to have to license them with the city or state. It absolutely is another way to impose a tax on people (you admit it above) and responsible pet owners should not have to foot the bill. I’d prefer to see stiffer fines for people that mistreat or abuse animals…they’re the ones that should foot the bill.
I have a Cat and won’t license it nor put a collar on it because he’s an indoor Cat. Booohoooo to the state. Come and get me.
House: I understand your point and pretty much agree in theory. But reality it is what it is. It’s part of living in civilized society IMO. How many real instances consistently occur where the ones who SHOULD pay actually DO? The ones who messs it up for others largely either cannot or won’t pay. So “we” pay, just as in countless other examples in our society. Would I rather not have to deal with licensing and associated fees? Yes. But I can accept it. I understand others have a harder time with it, but spinning it into an anti-dog rant is crazy. There are cats all over my neighborhood; some crap in my backyard…which I don’t particularly care for. The rules are the rules unfortunately, and cat owners aren’t exempt as pet owners.
House: You can say it’s flawed all you want, but it’s how social services in this country are funded. This is just another example of those who can taking up the slack for those who can’t or won’t. I too wish people didn’t take advantage. But it is what it is, and there are far bigger fish to fry under this topic than an $11/year license fee for a cat.
Are you kidding me!?! If you can afford to feed your cat, you can afford the $11 license to comply. I think everyone of my neighbors has an “in-door” cat and the fact is their cats still come over to my house to use my yard as their litter box. They are fortunate I know who they belong to because I would have no problem turning them over to a shelter so my young child can play in my yard with out me having to worry whether or not he is going to have to avoid the “kitty roca”. I don’t have any dogs using my yard as their toilet. I wonder why that is – probably because the “violent bruts” are regulated. License (and chip) your cats if you care about them.
When I moved out here and got a cat and was told he had to be licensed, I burst out laughing – I thought it was a joke. In NYC and in NJ nobody licenses cats, just dogs. Although I thought it ridiculous, I still licensed him (even though he’s an indoor cat) since I want to abide by the law. But I found it frustrating that when I lived in Lynnwood (in unincorporated Snohomish county) that it cost far more to license him than if I’d lived in Lynnwood city limits, and then when I moved to West Seattle a few months later, the license was not able to be transferred and I had to pay again. My cat wears a collar with his license, my name/phone, and that he had his rabies shot, even though he’s an indoor cat. That said, I still think it’s ridiculous.
Hey Wants A Clean Yard,
I feel your pain. I spend a fair amount of time working to have a nice yard, yet several cat owners in my neighborhood thought it was alright to feed the hell out of little Fluffy, then release him (unlicensed and uncollared) into the wild to dump on my grass. After two years of working part-time cleaning up other people’s cat’s feces, I found a great solution – http://www.havahart.com/cats/traps_straycats_1099.asp. A little tuna in the trap, and BAM! I feel like Crocodile Dundee when I get a catch.
You silly little cat owners can complain about licensing all you want – those fees are nothing compared to what you pay to get your cat back from the animal shelter. I Love My Clean Yard.
I love the arguments about why cat owners shouldn’t buy a 22 dollar license. While your at it mention why shouldn’t have to pay for schools… or social security. Its $11 dollars… you just look ridiculous whining about less than a dollar a month.
Bottom line is, if you care about your pet, buy a license so when your little precious figures out how to leave the house you have a decent chance of retrieving it. Otherwise it can be among the crazy high percentage of cats that get gassed because their lazy owners never got a license. I love it when cat owners preach about how impossible escape is, then you see them looking under bushes for fluffy a week a later because the foolproof airlock system failed.
NYC reeks of cat piss btw, most cat owners are used to the filth and don’t smell it after the first month with *kitty.* Total agreement on the roca issue.
Next time you see your mail person, ask them about cats vs dogs, you might get a surprise.
Its not about $11 a month idiots!! Its about that we are being forced to do something that is not necessary. As for Dogs, owner of PitBulls should be licensed and charged insurance to have them since they are known to be very agrressive and have known to kill human beings. My poor little Cat is nowhere near the danger it is as a Dog would be in public. Its a harmless cute little creature that stays indoors.
Vincent, Wants a clean yard, and MustLoveCats… Laughing my arse off. I feel your pain about the crap in yard thing, I feel the same way. I don’t like to find roca in my yard, find my pond messed with in their attempt to eat my koi, etc but what drives me insane are the cats that are in heat or whatever.. they sound like babies or little girls, females, crying like they are hurt. Scares me to death. Or being up at night trying to relax and then all the sudden you hear 2 cats fighting at the front door, flailing against the door, hissing, etc .. It will knock you for a loop. It is extremly annoying but I don’t know what can be done about it.
What sealed it for me was when I was a teen and baby sat for a couple one night .. Their GD cat caught a squirrel, came inside, and ran around the dinning room table in the dark leaving body parts and ring of blood on the carpet. I stepped on the carcass, so glad I was wearing shoes. I cleaned it up because I didn’t know better.
If someone wants to own a pet that is cool with me, it’s just not something I am interested in.
All pet licensing fees help to increase available funding for the Seattle Animal Shelter, where my husband has been a volunteer for several years. While certainly not a no-kill shelter, I can attest that significant on-going efforts are made to place all animals identified as adoptable.
We are happy to keep our pets “legal” and provide some additional funding. If you like cats enough to own one yourself, I don’t understand why paying a small fee that could help to place a cat that someone has discarded is such a hardship?
Jiggers: Read Sandy’s post. Also, I’ve been bitten by FAR more “harmless” indoor cats in my life than dogs. I was a vet tech in college, and we used elbow length leather welder’s gloves to handle poor little Miss Fluffy cat, who all of a sudden wanted to scratch and bite our faces off.
MustLoveCats,
May I direct your attention to the Seattle Municipal Code 9.25.081 – Offenses relating to animal cruelty:
“It is unlawful for any person to: C. Set or bait any trap, except for rats or mice, unless a permit to do so has been issued as provided for in Section 9.25.030 A13;”
Do you have one of those permits for trapping neighborhood cats, or are you willing to get busted for animal cruelty the moment you take the animal to the shelter?
jiggers: thanks for winning the random wacko award of the day, you came right out of the gate with an ad hominem attack, about the wrong thing.* Then proceeded to foam at the mouth over pitbulls. Which without any evidence is just poorly voiced opinion. Topping it all off would be the big ole cherry of “my poor little kitty” who you don’t want to license, because presumably having a method to pull revenue from the group that uses it ( pet owners ) is too indiscriminate. So while we all wait for the special “poor little kitty breed” shelters to open to appease you, can you go get checked for Toxoplasm?
*its a dollar a month, not 11.
Huindekmi,
Thanks for the heads up. Next time I’ll just drop kitty off in the woods.
Do I have to do everything the state tells me to do? I almost can’t use the bathroom without asking permission to. Anyways, I think Rotweilers are the most aggressive Dogs around and should be insured by their owners no doubt. Don’t tell me that there has been not one case were that type of breed has not killed a human being before. If a certain breed has shown to have killed human beings before, it definetly needs to be insured. Like car insurance.
The eternal dog vs. cat fight! Can’t we just get along, like these critters? http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5484579
I do not think the amount is too much to pay. However, since my cats are indoors, they do not wear collars. So, if they get out, even though they are licensed, I will be charged to get them from the pound and I’ll have to the one to go find them there. We have cats who come and crap in the garden and the sandbox. I don’t think there is any law about keeping your cat on your property, like with dogs. The money in not the issue, it’s the uselessness of the license for a cat. As I said, maybe mandatory chipping would be more appropriate. Our animals came from a rescue group and part of the adoption fee is to pay for the animal’s chip. Since most shelters now scan, I know that my pet is more likely to get back to me. Having an “indoor” pet doesn’t mean that you’ll never need that protection!
Yes, there are more important things to argue about. That’s why you don’t see cat owners picketing city hall over an $11 license that many cat owners think is silly. We just pay it and shake our heads.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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