Congratulations to the responsible dog owners of Santa Barbara and their reasonable elected officials. This is from Ginny White and Janet Lee Vining.
On October 5, 2010, the City of Santa Barbara, California, passed an ordinance amending the existing City pet licensing law. Although the original proposal was to make the City ordinance consistent with the County of Santa Barbara's recently passed spay/neuter ordinance, the City significantly changed the language and did not support a mandatory spay/neuter approach. The City designed an ordinance based on education of pet owners regarding spaying/neutering options and responsible pet ownership.
A veterinary certificate will be required to license an unaltered dog or unaltered cat, but unlike the County ordinance, it does not require the veterinarian's authorization to keep the dog or cat intact. The City's certificate would state only that the veterinarian has counseled the owner on the concerns and responsibilities associated with owning an unaltered pet and has provided educational material on responsible pet ownership. The intent is that this discussion would take place during the visit for rabies vaccination so there would be no additional cost to the owner. To make it easier to have licensing coincide with rabies vaccination, license options were expanded to 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years. This is the first time licenses will be required for cats.
The fee for licenses for unaltered dogs and unaltered cats will include a small surcharge which will be used to fund educational outreach programs and activities on responsible pet ownership including spaying/neutering.
