The Pacific Palisades Community Council approved a motion on January 13 to oppose L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s attempt to pass a city ordinance that would allow a resident to own more than three dogs and three cats. ’The proposed ordinance to increase the number of allowable pets per household to five dogs and five cats for a total of 10 may increase public nuisance and increase the impairment of the quality of life in Pacific Palisades,’ according to the Community Council’s motion. Rosendahl introduced the concept in June, saying the change would provide stray animals in city shelters with homes and prevent them from being euthanized. In addition, it could raise revenue for the city through additional animal registration fees. Since then, the Board of Animal Services Commissioners has given its unanimous support and the Department of Animal Services hosted two public meetings. The City Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee will now discuss the matter. John Gregory, legislative deputy for Rosendahl, told the Community Council that the city also plans to complete an environmental impact report (EIR) to evaluate possible impacts. ’I just want to make sure that everyone knows that there is a process in place, and we are not going to just rush this to City Council without a full study,’ Gregory said. Before the ordinance can go into effect, the City Council must give its approval. For public safety, Gregory added that the city also plans to reduce the number of guard dogs licensed at one premise to two dogs, and no other dogs can be licensed at that residency. Catalina Litochleb, owner of the Pacific Palisades Veterinary Center, told the Council that instead of increasing the number of animals a family can own, the city needs to actually collect the license fees. Residents are supposed to pay $20 to license their dogs. Cats are not required to have a license. ’When dogs come into my clinic, between 10 to 20 percent of them have tags,’ Litochleb said. ‘Obviously, we cannot register 100 percent of the dogs, but we could register 80 percent.’ Litochleb suggests that the city raise the license fee and that private-sector veterinarians help by collecting these fees for the city. ’If we could generate an extraordinary amount of income, then maybe we could have no-kill shelters,’ she said. L.A. Department of Animal Services General Manager Brenda Barnette estimates that one-third of the dogs in the city are licensed. ‘There is no argument that the department has not been doing a good job of collecting licenses,’ she told the Council, noting that only 120,000 were collected last year. Barnette, however, argued that Rosendahl’s proposed ordinance could help. ’We are aware that there are people in this city who are very good caregivers and want more than three animals. We believe that we could increase our revenue from those licenses if we allow those people to have four or five dogs,’ she said. Director of Animal Issues Movement Phyllis Daugherty, who attended the meeting in opposition to the ordinance, countered that if residents are not paying for a license when they have three dogs, they are still not going to pay when they have five. Daugherty also argued that the proposed ordinance does not require residents to adopt animals from city shelters, so it does not necessarily mean those dogs and cats will be given homes. As a veterinarian, Litochleb believes the ordinance would create an increase in barking noise, fecal excrement in public areas and an increase in zoonotic disease. The proposed ordinance also does not require homes to have a certain square footage. ‘What happens if someone lives in an 800-sq.-ft. condo?’ Litochleb asked. ‘That’s a lot of animals in a small space.’ Gregory responded that many of these concerns will be addressed during the EIR process. But given the current budget crisis, Council member Barbara Kohn asked how the city plans to pay for the EIR. ’There are certain funds within Animal Services,’ Gregory said. ‘But that is a relevant concern that you bring up.’
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