New numbers show a big drop in the number of pets being surrendered to Arlington's animal shelter after the city began charging pet owners a fee to leave them there.
It's not often you walk into the Arlington animal shelter and see an empty kennel – but that's not for a lack of effort by staff to adopt pets out. It's just that every time animals leave, more come in.
"We receive a lot of animals through our animal receiving office and out in the field," said Chris Huff, manager of Arlington Animal Services.
A new city report shows, however, that fewer cats and dogs have been brought to the shelter since October 2014. That's when the city began charging pet owners a $25 fee to surrender their animals to the shelter.
"We essentially had no standards for when a person relinquishes their animal as to do they have a responsibility to maintain taking care of that animal, said Mike Bass, Code Compliance Services Administrator for the City of Arlington.
Bass said the fee helps offset the costs of housing and caring for that animal, which can run $28 to $41 per day. Some of the money is also being used to help pay for a new animal cruelty investigator.
The fee only applies to pet owners who voluntarily surrender their pets. People who bring stray animals to the shelter will not be charged. If the city determines a pet owner cannot afford the fee, they do have the option to waive it.
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From October 2014 to March 2015, the city reported a 27-percent drop in pet surrenders when compared to that same period the previous year.
During that time, 652 pet owners paid the surrender fee, while the city waived it for 151 pet owners.
When the fee was first discussed, multiple council members and citizens expressed concerns that charging a surrender fee could lead to more pet owners abandoning their pets on the streets.
Bass told NBC 5 it's too early to know what effects the fees are having, but said he's "encouraged" by city data that shows a 12-percent reduction in stray impoundments since October 2014.
"I think the jury is still out," said Bass. "We'll still need to evaluate and look at what impacts there may be."
Whatever those impacts may be, Bass and Huff believe other factors are at play when it comes to the lower intake numbers.
Arlington Animal Services runs a number of targeted programs to help pet owners keep their animals. They also try to come up with creative ways to get more cats and dogs adopted out of the shelter.
"We recently had a special during the Memorial Day weekend where we waived fees for our military servicemen," said Huff.
On Wednesday, May 26, they're offering a half-price special, where adoption fees for dogs and cats will be reduced by 50 percent.
The surrender fee is currently on a one-year trial. City leaders will decide this fall if it should continue.
