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Laguna Woods council moves to allow flexible dog-license terms to match rabies shots
Summary
The council introduced an ordinance to replace the current calendar-year dog-license system with flexible license terms aligned to each animal’s rabies vaccination, aiming to reduce unnecessary vaccinations and simplify registration.
Laguna Woods City Council on a unanimous voice vote moved to introduce an ordinance that would change the city’s dog licensing from a rigid calendar-year term to a flexible month-to-month system tied to each animal’s rabies vaccination term.
City Manager Chris Macon told the council the change would amend section 5.02.0.01 and chapter 5.04 of the Laguna Woods Municipal Code to allow license terms that align with rabies vaccine expiration. "My understanding is that that is somewhat unusual that, cities typically provide a more flexible month to month registration term, that allows for, registrations to align specifically with the current rabies vaccine for dogs," Macon said.
Jim Barras, civilian services administrator for the Laguna Beach Police Department, who also serves as animal services manager for Laguna Woods, explained the current problem: "All dog licenses must be from January 1 to December 31, regardless of when the dog comes into the community or when it's rabies certificate expires." Under state law, Barras said, a registration cannot be issued unless the registration term matches the rabies vaccination term, which has required some residents either to get an unnecessary extra rabies shot or delay licensing.
The proposed ordinance would let applicants choose a license term of 12 to 36 months (so long as it does not extend beyond the rabies certificate expiration) and would include reorganizing and rephrasing chapter 5.04 to remove an unnecessary "registration year" definition. Barras said cities such as Laguna Beach already use the more flexible system and that the change would be more "resident friendly and customer friendly," reducing unnecessary vaccinations and allowing pro rata fees based on the chosen term.
No public speakers addressed the change during the public hearing. After the hearing was closed, a council member moved to "approve the introduction and first reading of an ordinance read by title with further reading waived" amending the cited code sections; the motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.
The ordinance is at the introduction/first-reading stage; the council will return for further readings and final adoption at a later meeting, per the municipal ordinance process.
