You could soon be getting a friendly knock on the door from Burnaby city staff hoping to convince you to register Spot or Fluffy with the municipality.
It’s all part of the city’s dog licensing program.
Starting this week, dog licence canvassers will be out visiting residents to ensure dogs are licensed, as part of the city’s bylaws.
Clayton Hall, the city’s manager of licensing and regulatory bylaws, explained the program is focused on educating dog owners about the city’s rules and letting them know about the benefits of licensing their pets.
He suggested the benefits, besides being an aid to tracking your dog down if it gets lost and turned in to the pound, include helping to offset the costs of operating the animal shelter and caring for stray animals. Hall also said licences provide statistics for the city to better understand the services it should be offering in the community.
“We’ve really found great success by engaging the public and focusing our efforts on education and awareness,” Hall said, noting the city has run a similar successful canvassing program in the past.
Dog owners will able to buy a dog licence on the spot from the canvassers.
Currently, a licence in Burnaby for a dog spayed or neutered costs $39, and $66 for one unaltered. The fine for not having your dog licensed is $100. The city issued 106 tickets for unlicensed dogs in 2015.
Hall said dog owners will not be forced to buy a licence from the canvassers, and the city employees are not there to issue fines.
“I think the main message that we’re trying to let people know is this is a benefit for you,” he said.
The program will mostly target single-family homes where the city doesn’t know if the homeowner has a dog. The program is scheduled to run until October, with canvassers expected to hit up three-quarters of the city by the end.
According to the city, so far in 2016, the city has handed out 5,124 dog licences. A total of 5,543, 5,636 and 5,925 dog licences were handed in out in 2015, 2014 and 2013 respectively.
The city also sold 325 dog licences during the last canvassing program in 2013, during a 20-week period.
Hall said it’s hard to know how many canines are actually in the city, pointing out past estimates suggest 35 to 45 percent of the population have their dogs licensed. He said the city has recommended in the past the SPCA gather the information in a census.
