TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an agreement with the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control to provide dog license canvassing to the City of Long Beach for one year, with the option of renewing, as needed, for two additional one-year periods, in an amount not to exceed $40,000 per year. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
The Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) is responsible for ensuring that all dogs over the age of four months are licensed with the Animal Care Services Bureau. Consistent with State law, licensing ensures current rabies vaccination and promotes public health and safety. Locally, licensing fees support General Fund public safety and enforcement activities. While the Bureau's efforts to educate the public on the dog licensing requirement has met with some success, only 29,200 of 44,300 dogs (65 percent) registered with the City of Long Beach are current on payment and rabies certificates. Overall, there are an estimated 103,000 dogs in the City of Long Beach alone, according to projections by the American Veterinary Medical Association, or approximately 73,800 without a current license.
To improve enforcement, Animal Care Services currently budgets four part-time Animal License Inspector Non-Career (NC) positions. These canvassers are responsible for license inspections of a five-city area covering more than 597,000 residents. In addition to Long Beach, the canvassers dedicate time and energy to the cities of Cerritos, Signal Hill, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos to fulfill contractual obligations. Contract canvassers will supplement existing staff to improve enforcement and generate additional revenue.
For many years, the County of Los Angeles Animal Care and Control (County) has provided seasonal dog license canvassing for the City of Long Beach on a contract basis. The Health Department seeks to enter into a one-year agreement with the County for dog license canvassing, with the option of...
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