‘We won’t be bothering good dog owners:’ Changes coming to Windsor’s licencing fees

The city is changing the way they licence dogs. CTV’s Michelle Maluske explains.

As of Dec. 1, licences will cost $150 for dogs with a record of biting or attacking.

All other dogs will cost $25 per year, but its no longer mandatory.

“The city will be moving to a voluntary dog licensing program,” says Craig Robertson, deputy licence commissioner.

“We wanted to remove some of the red tape for responsible dog owners.”

Currently dog licences are mandatory, but free for dogs that are spayed, neutered and microchipped.

All others cost anywhere from $17 to $64 depending on the time of year the licence is purchased.

Every year, staff had anywhere from 10,000 to 11,000 dogs to licence each year, according to Robertson.

He says the city wasn’t recovering the costs they’re spending on enforcing the free program.

As of Dec. 1, registering a dog online will cost $25 and the owner will get a $20 voucher for Ren’s Pets.

However, if the dog has a record for biting, attacking or acting aggressively, the owner will only be able to register in-person at city hall and the cost will be going up to $150.

“We want to make sure that irresponsible pet owners or bad dogs out there, that we have a registry, that we know where they’re at so that we could try to keep our community safe,” Robertson says.

The change to the policy means Windsor will have a better grasp on how many so-called ‘dangerous’ dogs are in the city.

“We will have a mandatory registry for dogs that have bitten or attacked,” Robertson says.

The increased fee for those dogs will help the city pay for dog attack investigations and will allow Windsor’s 12 bylaw enforcement officers to focus their attention elsewhere.

“Our dirty yard investigations, we have about 12,000 of those per year. So, this frees up time for other council priorities and other community priorities,” Robertson says.

“We won’t be bothering good dog owners,” he adds, while quick to point out registering a dog could come in handy if they run away, staff will know who the dog belongs to, and they can be returned home faster.