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Amending Title VI, Article III, Section 633 by adding language to extend the tenure of dog licenses and to amend the fee structure for dog license issuances.
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The Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1.
§ 633.02 - DOG LICENSE REQUIRED; EXEMPTION AND TERM shall be amended as follows:
(a) No person shall keep, harbor or maintain a dog over the age of three (3) months unless the owner obtains a license from the City Treasurer or his or her authorized agent.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to dogs whose owners are within the City for sixty (60) days or less or to dogs brought into this City for the purpose of participating in a dog show or similar event.
[(c) The license year shall be from January 1 to December 31 of each year. License year shall become effective January 1, 1993.]
(c) Dog licenses shall be available in the following terms:
(i) A license term of one (1) year shall be available to applicable dog owners in the City of Pittsburgh. The license term shall commence on January 1st of the license's effective year, and shall terminate on December 31st of the same year. There shall be no pro-rata pricing for dog licenses.
(ii) A license term of three (3) years shall be available to applicable dog owners in the City of Pittsburgh. The license term shall commence on January 1st of the first year of the term and end on December 31st of the third year of the term. In instances where a dog owner applies for a license mid-year, the license term shall commence on the date of the acceptance of the completed dog license application and fee, and shall end on the 31st of December in the second full year after the license has been issued. There shall be no pro-rata pricing for dog licenses. This license term shall become effective January 1, 2013 2012.
(iii) A lifetime license term shall be available to applicable dog owners in the City of Pittsburgh. The lifetime license shall have a license term of twelve (12) years. The license term shall commence on January 1st of the first year of the term and end on December 31st of the twentieth twelfth year of the term. In instances where a dog owner applies for a license mid-year, the license term shall commence on the date of the acceptance of the completed dog license application and fee, and shall end on the 31st of December in the nineteenth eleventh full year after the license has been issued. There shall be no pro-rata pricing for dog licenses. This license term shall become effective January 1, 2013 2012.
(d) Applicable to all license terms, a license shall terminate upon the death of the animal in all circumstances. It is the owner's responsibility to report a licensed animal's death to the Bureau of Animal Control in a timely manner.
Section 2. § 633.06 - LICENSE FEE; EXCEPTIONS shall be amended as follows:
(a) Before a license is issued, fees shall be paid to the City Treasurer or his or her authorized agent according to the following schedule:
[(1) Twelve dollars ($12.00) for unspayed female or unneutered male dogs; and
(2) Seven dollars ($7.00) for spayed female or neutered male dogs or those that are certified by a veterinarian to be incapable of breeding or being bred or those less than six (6) months of age, and where proof of the animal being spayed, neutered or unable to breed or be bred, in certificate form from a veterinarian, shall be required to receive this reduced fee.]
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1 year license |
3 year license |
Lifetime license |
Spayed/Neutered |
$10 |
$25 |
$75 |
Unspayed/Unneutered |
$20 |
$50 |
$175 |
Applicable dog owners may qualify for the reduced "spayed/neutered" rate if the City is in possession of, or has been presented at the time of application for the dog license, evidence documenting and affirming that the animal has been spayed or neutered, or that the animal is otherwise unable to breed or be bred, in certificate form from a veterinarian. A dog less than six (6) months of age may be issued a one (1) year dog license at the reduced "spayed/neutered" rate without providing medical documentation of the animal's reproductive abilities.
(b) Licenses are to be issued without charge to guide dogs, service dogs or hearing dogs which are properly trained to assist blind or deaf persons.
(c) All kennels shall be required to have the owner purchase and place a license on every dog placed from that kennel.
(d) The City Treasurer or his or her authorized agent shall provide licenses, effective for the remainder of the license year, to nonprofit shelters located within the City limits to be distributed free of charge to the dogs and cats placed with City residents.
(e) The dog license fees shall be adjusted by the annual national rate of inflation, as reported by the federal Bureau of Labor and Statistics, on an annual basis. The City Treasurer or his or her authorized agent shall keep a rolling annual calculation of the adjusted fees in an Inflation Adjusted Dog License Fees Index (the Index) and the real fees shall be calculated by rounding the Index figure down to the nearest dollar. The City Treasurer or his or her authorized agent shall make public any changes in the dog license fee schedule at least ninety (90) days prior to the commencement of the year in which the fees shall take effect. The City Treasurer or his or her authorized agent shall notify City Council in writing of any changes in the dog license fee schedule, and the City Clerk shall update the code to reflect the new dog license fee schedule.
Section 3. § 633.07 - TAG AND COLLAR; NONTRANSFERABLE OR LOST shall be amended as follows:
(a) Tag and collar. Upon payment of the license fee, there shall be issued to the owner a tag for each dog licensed. The tag shall be changed [every year] at the end of every license term and shall have stamped thereon the [year for which it was issued] final applicable year of the license. Every owner shall be required to provide each dog which ventures upon the public streets, sidewalks or other public places with a collar to which the license tag shall be affixed. The tag number, preceded by the letters "PGH" and the [license year] final applicable year of the license, written clearly and legibly upon the collar, shall be regarded as an acceptable substitute for the presence of the tag upon the collar.
(b) Nontransferable and nonrefundable. License tags or numbers shall not be transferable from one (1) dog to another and no refunds shall be made on a license fee because of the death of a dog or the owner leaving the City before expiration of the licensed period.
(c) Lost or stolen tags. Tags that are lost or stolen may be reissued for the same dog upon payment of a fee [of two dollars ($2.00)] that shall be equal to two dollars ($2.00) for each full year remaining until the dog's license expires, plus one dollar ($1.00).
(d) Long-term license dog tags shall always be gold colored, while three (3) year license dog tags and one (1) year license dog tags shall never be gold colored. Dog tags shall have the license number, year of expiration, and "PGH" printed on them.