Bridgeport City Council proposes fee hikes to address increasing numbers of loose dogs

BRIDGEPORT – It is going to become more expensive for dog owners within the city limits to allow their canines to run free, unlicensed and unaltered, if a fee increase proposed at last month’s city council meeting wins approval.
During their regular monthly meeting, March 21, council members revisited the growing urgency of dog control in the city.
Public Works Superintendent Stuart Dezellem advised council members that the current fees are too low to produce the desired deterrent effect and illustrated his point with a story.
Dezellem said that for years the city posted city bill late notices every month on some 30 residences around the city.
“I spent seven years going to one residence every single month,” said Dezellem. “The late pay only cost the customer $5.00 a month and they were comfortable with that.”
Over the course of a year the total late fees only amount to $60.
“We jumped that to $25 and now there’s a handful,” said Dezellem of the rapid reduction in late notice postings. “People will respond to financial pain.”
Animal control officer Bill Zweigle noted the uptick in loose dog numbers by advising the council that already this year he has picked up 20 dogs.
“We have a serious animal control problem in town,” said Dezellem. “I think we have to start going after these dog licenses.”
Dezellem also recommended that the daily kennel fee be increased.
Part of the current dog fee schedule includes $10 for a lifetime license for a spayed or neutered dog and $30 for unaltered ones. Mayor Janet Conklin suggested that current lifetime license holders be grandfathered in but that the lifetime option be cancelled in favor of an annual $10 license.
The cost to license unsprayed or unneutered dogs would increase to $50.
 “If the dog license for a non-spayed or neutered animal is $50 and they can get a dog license for $10 for a neutered one, what do you think they’re going to do?” asked Dezellem. “They are going to get that dog spayed or neutered.”
The $5 daily kennel fee for impounded dogs would to double to $10. The kennel fee covers heat and food to the animals in custody, Dezellem said.
Council member Matt Schuh asked if the council should consider increasing the daily kennel fee even more.
City Clerk/Treasurer Judy Brown, who deals with citizens paying their fines, cautioned council members that higher fees quickly add up to the point where owners are unable to pay the multiple costs required to recover their pets.
“When someone comes in they have to pay an impound fee which is $35 and the daily kennel fee,” said Brown. “Then they have to register the dog and that requires a dog license, but before a dog license can be issued the dog has to have proof or rabies vaccination; so, it starts adding up on them.”
In related dog business the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society contacted Zweigle and Mayor Conklin about free pickup of impounded dogs and a volunteer spay and neuter service.
The Humane Society recently collected two dogs from Zweigle and has offered to continue the service without charge. Conklin asked council members if they would consider donating an agreed sum to the Humane Society as a goodwill gesture to help it defray its expenses. Conklin said the Wenatchee shelter offers an alternative to euthanizing dogs that are transported to their no-kill shelter.
Zweigle said the estimated round-trip cost to transport a dog to Chelan for pickup is $70 to $72.
“And it costs about $50 to take dogs to Brewster for pickup,” Zweigle said.
Conklin asked council members to take a monthly donation under advisement while she pursues further discussions with the Wenatchee shelter over a working agreement with Bridgeport.
While Bridgeport does not have a cat ordinance in its Bridgeport Municipal Code, Conklin said she is becoming concerned about one residential property that is over-populated with cats. The mayor said she does not want to see an unregulated cat population rise to the level of Bridgeport’s dog numbers.