TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute all necessary documents to accept and expend grant funding from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for the purchase of a portable pet tagging machine and engravable pet identification tags; and
Increase appropriations in the General Fund (GF) in the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department (PR) by $5,400. (District 5)
DISCUSSION
The Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, Animal Care Services Bureau (ACS), submitted a grant application to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), in the amount of $5,400, for a portable pet tagging machine and engravable pet identification tags to be used to create engraved pet collar tags. Recently, ACS was notified of the grant award.
The portable pet tagging machine will allow ACS to create engraved pet identification tags that are worn on a pet’s collar and contain the pet owner’s information. In the event the pet becomes separated from its owner and is brought to the shelter, ACS can quickly identify and contact the owner in order to return the pet. Research conducted by ASPCA has shown that 90 percent of animals tagged at a shelter, including cats, retain their identification tags once they are released to their owners, which allows the animals to be reunited in the community instead of entering the shelter system. Currently, ACS charges a fee to microchip a pet when it is reunited with its owner. The pet identification tag is an extra layer of identification to assist in the process of reuniting a pet with its owner. The identification tags will be used on pets that are returned to their owner, as well as adopted pets and rescued pets brought to offsite adoption events. It is expected that in the first year, approximately 1,100 dogs and cats will be tagged before being returned to their owners.
The grant funding will provide for the cost of the portable pet tagging machine and a one- year suppl...
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