ORD-2007-221 - Animal Ordinance Civil Penalty and Fee Increases

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The value of the community as a whole is a prime justification for these changes. Both the ordinances themselves and related civil penalties and fees are designed to improve the safety and welfare of not only animals, but human members of the County. This is no less true with respect to various public nuisances (for example, barking or unconfined dogs) than the vaccination of dogs and cats against rabies, though the latter is certainly accented by high numbers of confirmed rabies cases in recent years in Orange County as well as in the state. Similarly, the identification of animals and their owners is integral to ensuring that each and every pet owner is responsible for their pets and toward other members of their community. As noted previously, these fees have not been adjusted or changed during the last decade.. While increasing them will produce additional revenues for the County, the goal of the Animal Services Department is to motivate residents to comply with the ordinance in the most effective and efficient ways possible and to recover some of the additional costs that occur when residents fail to comply with specific requirements. Civil citations and fees are not ordinarily the first step in the compliance process. People not in compliance are usually issued a warning (or abatement order) and given adequate time to comply, along with the proper education on ways in which they may do so. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Staff projects that there will be an increase in the amount of penalties and fees collected in the short and medium term and does not expect that amount to decrease. The major impact for the department will be the better utilization of its resources insofar as compliance measures are more effective. As people are more highly motivated to comply with the ordinance, the real costs associated with compliance efforts can be controlled and /or recovered to the greatest extent possible. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager requests that the Board conduct a public hearing on 'the proposed amendments and recommends that the Board approve the proposed amendments to the Orange County Animal Ordinance and Collection Policy. These amendments include the recommended increases in civil penalties and fines and selectively replaces the designation of civil penalties with fees, to be effective February 4, 2008, upon completion of the approved public relations and outreach efforts as outlined.