LAKEPORT – The Lakeport City Council voted Tuesday night to make the city's dog licensing fees consistent with the rest of the county and with the city of Clearlake.

The 4-0 vote, with Mayor Buzz Bruns absent, brings the licensing fees for an altered dog within the city limits from $3 to $10, and from $10 to $50 for dogs that haven't been spayed or neutered.

Interim City Manager and Police Chief Kevin Burke asked the council to raise the fees. The Lakeport Police Department officially took over animal control services in the city as of July 1, after the city decided not to continue its annual contract with Lake County Animal Care and Control, as Lake County News has reported.

The police department has a very small budget to funds its animal control services. Burke said the current licensing fees bring in $1,500 annually, and the additional revenue will go toward the police department's animal-related expenditures.

“We're finding that the volume of animals needing to go (to the shelter) is higher than expected,” said Burke.

Councilman Bob Rumfelt questioned why there was no proposal for licensing cats. Rumfelt, a dog owner, said in his neighborhood cats are the big problem, and he wants to see cat owners be responsible for their pets. He added that it costs the same amount – $90 – to take a dog or a cat to the county shelter.

Burke explained that the law doesn't recognize cats as property, and he believed a cat licensing proposal wouldn't withstand legal scrutiny if challenged.

Lakeport Police's animal control volunteer, Vicki Chamberlin, explained to the council that the law requires dogs be licensed because, should they attack people, there needs to be a way of tracking them down. She added that the department doesn't have much money to do anything with cats right now.

Mayor Pro Tem Ron Bersch suggested looking into the idea of an ordinance for cats, and City Attorney Steve Brookes offered to run the idea through a listserv to see what other municipalities around the state are doing about cats.

Burke said Lakeport Police is making it a practice not to take cats to the shelter unless it's absolutely necessary, with emphasis placed on dogs due to the legal considerations Chamberlin described.

The department also is sustaining large, unexpected expenses, said Burke.

Case in point: This week, the department had to spend $600 for rabies testing on a dog that bit someone.

Burke said that when a dog doesn't have papers showing it's vaccinated for rabies, it's common practice to quarantine the animal for several days. However, the animal in question couldn't be quarantined due to an injury. So it had to be put down, then it was decapitated and its brain sent for testing.

Those testing costs normally are absorbed by an animal control agency, although the council urged Burke to look into a way of recouping those costs from the owner.

Burke said Lakeport Police doesn't offer a full complement of animal control services, and the council needs to decide if it wants the agency to become full service or turn the duties back over to the county.

He added that it's his goal to see the county resume animal control duties.

Burke said he plans to sit down with county Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Cox and negotiate an animal control contract that the council will find acceptable. Should that happen, he said Chamberlin would stay on to supervise the contract.

“What we're talking about here is getting over the hump,” he said of the fee increase. “This fee issue is very separate and distinct from all the other issues going on.”

Councilman Roy Parmentier moved to increase the fees, with Rumfelt seconded, and Bertsch and Councilman Jim Irwin also offering their support.

In other business Tuesday night, the council voted to give Lakeport Redevelopment Agency staff direction to negotiate a financial participation agreement with Clearwater Homes for a co-housing project on Berry Street; added a golden handshake early retirement incentive to its CalPERS contract; designated the City Hall parking lot as a two-hour maximum parking area; appointed members to sit on a committee to revise the city's outdated purchasing policy, which was accepted in 1969; and voted to begin the application process for a state revolving fund low-interest loan for installation a corrosion control project.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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