Idaho Falls passes ordinance requiring licensing of some cats
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IDAHO FALLS — A new ordinance will require cat owners to obtain a yearly license if their pet doesn’t meet certain criteria.
The Idaho Falls City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to pass the law that will now require a license for every cat that isn’t vaccinated, chipped and altered.
The yearly license costs $10 for animals that have been spayed or neutered and $30 for unaltered animals. The licenses expire Dec. 31 of the year they were purchased.
“(The ordinance) will give us more cats that are accounted for,” Idaho Falls Animal Control Officer Laramie Pancheri told EastIdahoNews.com. “We’ll know where they belong (and) that they’re actual pets as opposed to just the wild stray ones running around.”
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Pancheri said by knowing which cats are owned, animal control can know where to direct their resources. She explained animal control will know which cats need to be returned, which are strays and which ones are part of the Trap Neuter and Release program.
Dog owners already have to license their pets. However, they must now renew those licenses yearly instead of every three years under the previous ordinance.
Any unaltered cats impounded at the Animal Control Shelter twice in one year will need to be spayed or neutered before the owners can reclaim them.