Saturday, February 18, 2012

Fido Fetching Fees for the State

A few days ago a story out of Jefferson County, Colorado told the tale of an individual, Matthew Townsend, who was jailed for not having licensed his dog Wolfie.  Townsend had previously been cited for not licensing Wolfie, and as a result of his ignoring this citation, a warrant had been issued for his arrest.  Townsend ran afoul of the authorities, in large part by chance, after the arrest warrant had been issued, was arrested, and spent seven (7) hours in jail for not having licensed Wolfie.

There should be no argument that Townsend’s arrest and subsequent time in jail for not having licensed Wolfie is a ridiculous response to not having a licensed dog, not to mention an egregious waste of tax dollars, but of course the authorities justify the alleged need for licensing dogs, and the issuing of arrest warrants for failing to comply with such laws, by stating such conditions are for our benefit, i.e. if Fido runs off and is rounded up by the authorities happy reunions can be arranged.

While the above stated reason for licensing your dog has the appearance of being legitimate, the actual reasons why the authorities demand that Fido be licensed are as follows.

The county say the animal licenses are needed to fund the new $10 million Foothills Animal Shelter…

By CBS4′s figures, Jefferson County and other governments are missing out on a lot money for non-compliance on dog licenses. Jefferson County misses more than $2.5 million a year in uncollected license fees. Denver has 19 percent of its dog owners and 1 percent of its cat owners with licenses, missing out on nearly $3.5 million in money it could collect. In Aurora under 9 percent of dogs and only 1 percent of cats are licensed, missing out on $2.5 million in revenue.

Fetch those fees, Fido.

Not Having A Dog License Leads To Jail Time

Posted by John Venlet on 02/18 at 10:30 AM
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