Mara Drogan, Dog Lover

To: City Council
From: Mara Drogan, City Clerk
Date: June 8, 2018
Re: Recommended Changes to the Code on Dog Redemption Fees

All fees relating to the licensing and redemption of dogs are established by the City, including
the delinquency fee, which is set forth by Agriculture and Markets as an amount to be
determined by the municipality [Per Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law of New York
State § 117].

The current fee structure for dog redemptions in Troy is $400-$520, which is significantly higher
than in neighboring municipalities (see attached table). The fees must be paid in cash and there
is no appeals process.

According to 2016 US Census data, per capita income for Troy residents is $21,919 and median
rent costs $848; these figures put into perspective how burdensome an unexpected fee of $400
to $520 might be—often creating difficult choices for residents and their families. The exorbitant
cost negatively impacts residents’ decisions regarding their pets. Only 37% of dogs impounded
from Troy are redeemed from Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, compared with 46% of dogs
from Albany, where the fines are lower. Anecdotally, many residents have expressed to the
Clerk’s office that they either could not afford to redeem their dogs at all, that the fees
comprised the entirety of the savings they had, or that they used payday loans or other forms of
high-interest debt to pay the redemption fees.

Past clerks have used their personal discretion to waive fees for some individuals who express
the inability to pay, but this practice is arbitrary and potentially discriminatory, and violates the
Clerk’s oath to uphold the law (which does not provide for this waiver). It is the policy of the
present City Clerk to apply the law in all cases to prevent discrimination and the effect of
personal bias, except in cases where both the Animal Control Officer and Mohawk Hudson
Humane Society request that the Clerk waive the fines. (Since January, I have only waived the
fees twice: once when an 85-year-old man’s house burned down and the dog had to be held
while his owner was in Red Cross temporary housing, and once when an abandoned dog
proved to have been stolen from a woman in NYC.) Both the ACO and MHHS believe that the
current fines should be lowered for Troy residents.

We expect that more people will redeem their dogs which would offset the decrease in individual
fees. We have also started a campaign to license more dogs in Troy. The Deputy Clerk’s
research suggests that less than 10% of Troy’s dogs are currently licensed, based on
information from the American Veterinarian Medical Association. We hope that by increasing the
number of dog licenses we issue, we can further offset this cost.

Thank you for your consideration of this proposal.