Naperville likely to make pet registration free

The fee to register a pet with the city of Naperville is likely to be waived early next year.

The city council is poised to approve a voluntary pet registration program that officials say will encourage more animal owners to let the city know they have a dog, cat or other pet.

"The overall intent of this is to increase compliance" with the practice of registering pets, council member David Wentz said.

Having pets registered helps reunite lost pets with owners, decrease the number of pets impounded in the city shelter, determine whether an animal is a stray and inform first responders when there is an animal in a home, Joanne Aul, animal control supervisor, said in a memo.

The city has been charging $4 or $8 for an annual cat or dog license, with the price depending on whether the animal has been spayed or neutered. By switching to a free, voluntary program, the city stands to lose $5,000 a year, Aul said. The city still would provide a tag to each registered pet.

But the move also would come with increases in the fees for impoundment, boarding and pet citations, police Chief Robert Marshall said. The schedule of pet-related fees, which includes a boarding fee of $6 a day, an impoundment fee of $15 and a citation charge of $10 for each offense, has not been updated since 1988.

If the city council approves a series of updates to the fees, boarding would cost $20 a day, impoundment would cost $25 and citations would move to a graduated scale.

For a first and second pet-related offense, such as allowing an animal to run at large or create a public nuisance, the fine would be $50. For the third offense, the fine would rise to $75. The fourth offense and all others within one year would cost $150 each.

Council members asked for the boarding and impoundment fees to be increased to cover the city's costs of caring for animals found within Naperville's borders. This week, animal control at 1340 Aurora Ave. was taking care of a Chihuahua found Dec. 16 on Diehl Road, a wirehair fox terrier found Dec. 20 at Route 59 and 87th Street, and a guinea pig abandoned at Bed Bath & Beyond on Route 59.

The changes to fees and citations are expected to generate $6,270 more a year, Aul said.

The city did away with a bicycle registration fee a few years ago and saw an increase in the number of people who registered their bikes, so Marshall said he hopes the same occurs with pet registration.

Council member Judith Brodhead said she wants pet registration available as an online service.

"Currently you have to come in person," Marshall said. "But our plan is to make it easier for residents to do it online."