LAKEPORT, Calif. – This week the Board of Supervisors gave initial approval to a request from Lake County Animal Care and Control to make some updates to its fee structure.
Director Bill Davidson asked for the updates during a brief public hearing held at the board's meeting Tuesday morning.
The board voted unanimously to advance the ordinance to update the county code to its Dec. 9 meeting for final approval.
The county's Animal Control Advisory Board discussed and unanimously approved the proposed fee updates at its July 21 meeting, Davidson reported.
Davidson told the board that when Animal Care and Control began its veterinary clinic in March of 2012, the board established fees for surgeries, licenses and special services.
“After two years of operation, the current fee structure was reevaluated in order to determine if there was a need to increase fees based upon rising costs costs for surgical supplies, vaccinations and operations,” Davidson said.
The evaluation resulted in Animal Care and Control staff proposing minimal fee increases that Davidson said will allow the clinic to continue to provide services to rescue groups and income-qualified individuals.
He said the costs for income-qualified surgeries will increase $5 each, with the cost to spay a female dog over 60 pounds proposed to increase by $15.
In addition, Davidson said he had added to the ordinance the discounted spaying and neutering program aimed at pit bulls – which is open to anyone, no matter the income level – which he introduced earlier this year.
The surgery prices for rescue groups are set just below what Animal Care and Control normally charges in a regular adoption because the groups help the agency find homes for unwanted animals, according to Davidson.
Among the adoption surgery fees that are not changing are the following: $80 each for male dogs, $90 each for female dogs under 60 pounds and $105 each for female dogs over 60 pounds. The cost difference between female dogs of different sizes is due to the increased cost for spaying based on weight.
Fees that will increase are costs for female cats, from $55 to $60; male dogs, from $65 to $70; female dogs under 60 pounds, from $75 to $80; and female dogs over 60 pounds, from $75 to $90.
The costs for the low-cost pit bull surgeries are $50 for males and $70 for females, Davidson said.
Annual fees for kennel licenses have not increased in the last six years, with Davidson reporting that those licenses require a significant amount of staff time to maintain.
He proposed changes that would create a flat level kennel license fee of $100, $200 or $300 depending on the number of animals to be maintained, as opposed to the previous fee structure of $90, $155, $230 and an additional $7 for each dog over 16.
Under special services, Davidson said there are numerous items for which the price has never been adjusted.
Those include microchips, which are increasing from $15 to $20; pet tags, $5 to $8; e-collars, $7 to $9; deceased animal disposal, $10 to $15; and pet urns, $14 and $20.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked if the reduced-cost pit bull altering program was successful.
“It has been successful,” said Davidson, noting that more people are coming in to get their pit bulls altered.
The program is aimed at reducing the numbers of pit bulls euthanized locally, as Lake County News has reported. Davidson received a $10,000 grant to support it from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Davidson also was successful at getting a grant specifically targeting pit bulls from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, so that the program's current costs actually are lower than in the ordinance – $25 each for males and $35 each for females, Davidson said.
Davidson said there has been an influx of pit bull owners who have taken advantage of the grant-funded program.
Supervisor Jeff Smith asked about the new chemical castration option, Zeuterin, which Animal Care and Control has begun offering.
“There has been some interest in it. Not as much as we had hoped for,” said Davidson, noting they are working to bring more awareness to the procedure.
Zeuterin is priced at $10 below the normal neutering cost, Davidson said.
Smith asked why the chemical procedure wasn't in the updated fee structure. “Is it something we should add?” he asked, with Davidson replying that it could be added at that point.
There was no public comment on the proposed ordinance.
Smith suggested going forward with adding Zeuterin to the fee structure, with the board approving the ordinance and its advancement to next week in a 5-0 vote.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.