The Marion County Board has approved an animal control ordinance, but without a provision that would require vets to collect the $7 dog tag fee.
Board member and vet Dr. Michael Douglas has repeatedly said he shouldn’t be made a tax collector, and at Tuesday night’s board meeting, two other vets agreed that the collection should be voluntary rather than mandatory. Dr. A.J. Sprague spoke against the requirement, while Dr. Douglas read a letter from Deuel Veterinary Clinic. Douglas and Sprague both said they had no problem collecting and sending in the $7 fee if asked.
Board member Debbie Smith questioned if Dr. Douglas had a conflict of interest speaking on the issue, but Board Chair Steve Whritenour said State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth indicated there was none.
After the initial vote on the ordinance as originally presented failed on a split vote, a second vote was held to send the ordinance back to committee. It also failed, prompting County and Community Chair Tracy Murray to seek a compromise. He suggested an amendment to change ‘shall’ to ‘may’ in the line dealing with vets collecting the dog tag fee.
With the proposed change, Animal Control Officer Whitney Purcell said she would withhold handing out the dog tags until the dog’s owner paid the $7 fee. The owners would also become liable for a fine for violating the ordinance after 30 days and would be sent a notice to appear in court.
That proposal passed, but after the meeting, Dr. Douglas said he believed withholding the tags until the fee is paid would be illegal because state law requires the delivery of the rabies tag at the same time the rabies vaccine is obtained.
Murray will now seek to determine whether the new county ordinance violates state law.
