Dog licensing has major benefits
Dear editor,
In response to the article in the Jan. 19, 2016 edition of The Comox Valley Record entitled Dog licence initiative presented, reporter Erin Haluschak states Richard Kanigan, CAO believes the proposal is trying to fix a problem that maybe we don’t have.
I believe council of Comox overlooked major benefits of the program, one of which is a new revenue stream generated from licence sales which could provide funding for spaying and neutering cats and dogs therefore reducing the number of unwanted pets.
To illustrate, in November of 2015 K9 Kind in partnership with école Au-coeur-de-l’île held a fundraiser. The children sold raffle tickets for various donated prizes. The funds raised were made available to residents to have their pets spayed and neutered. With limited public awareness, we received an overwhelming number of applications in only three days. An additional 40 applications were declined. One can only imagine how many families are actually in need of this service.
The dog licence initiative also has an educational component. Animal control will be able to educate every resident about the importance of early socialization and training, thus reducing the likelihood that pets will become a nuisance in the community.
Furthermore, the DLIP addresses breed specific bylaws. The proposal evidences that breed specific legislation can do more harm than good. In fact, studies show that the most effective way to address breed specific issues is to licence dogs and educate owners as the Initiative does.
Richard Kanigan suggests that licencing is unnecessary because Comox’s demographic is primarily seniors who keep their dogs on lead. Statistics do not support this argument. Approximately 27 per cent of residents in Comox are 65 years or older based on the 2011 Census and approximately 50 per cent of households have dogs. Thus, seniors with dogs represent approximately 13.5 per cent of the population with dogs, leaving 37 per cent of households with dogs in non-senior residences.
The Dog Licence Initiative Proposal can be viewed at www.k9kind.ca.
Carrie Lumsden
Comox