Council proposes five-fold increase for dog licence fee

The announcement comes after agriculture minister, Michelle Gildernew, set out a raft of tough new measures to clampdown on irresponsible dog owners across Northern Ireland. The minister’s proposals, which are currently out for consultation, include a rise in the price of a dog licence from 5 to 12.50, compulsory microchipping and greater powers for dog wardens.

But the local authority feels that the Sinn Fein minister’s price hike does not go far enough and has suggested that the fee should be raised to 25.

The council set out its response to Mrs Gildernew’s proposals at the latest meeting of the environment committee at Smiley Buildings.

The report said: “The licence fee should be set at a level that would enable the cost of the dog control service provided by the council to be recovered.”

Cllr Brian Dunn described the price hike for as “perfectly reasonable” and said that members should back the council’s response.

He added: “Anyone who can afford to keep a dog can also afford the increased licence fee.”

However, several other members voiced concerns about the proposal. Ald Jack McKee said he “couldn’t in all good conscience” support a 25 licence fee.

He added: “I cannot go along with this price increase as it will punish decent dog owners out there for the actions of irresponsible ones.”

Ald Roy Beggs also expressed concerns about the proposal. He said: “The council needs to charge a minimum of 12.50 for a licence just to break even, so we have no alternative but to raise the charge. However, I couldn’t go along with a 25 charge as it is quite unreasonable.”

Despite the concerns, a majority of members voted to endorse the council’s response. As well as rejecting the planned 12.50 licence fee, the response also dismissed the proposal that microchipping should be made compulsory.

The report said: “Currently, councils do not have control over microchipping databases. In order for a system of compulsory microchipping to be effective, councils would have to reach agreement with each of the database providers to enable access to the data they hold.”

The council also rejected the proposal that it should be an offence to allow a dog to attack another dog. “It is in the nature of dogs to show aggression other dogs,” the report stated. “Gathering sufficient evidence to prove such a case in court could prove difficult.”

However, that council did accept a number of other proposals, including that:

n over 65s should get their first dog licence free of charge and a 50 per cent reduction on a second licence,

n keeping or being in charge of a dog that attacks and injures a person should be an aggravated offence,

n council’s should be able to impose conditions on the licences of individual dogs in order to intervene early to control behaviour problems,

n fixed penalties for dog offences should be made payable to the council rather than the courts,

n block licences should be raised to 32 in line with inflation.

The response will be forwarded to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as part of the ongoing consultation process.