Fairbanks animal-control code revised to raise fines, remove initial warning and add enforcement tools

Staff from the Fairbanks North Star Borough animal-control program briefed the Animal Control Commission on Feb. 3 about code changes the borough assembly adopted to strengthen enforcement of humane-care, rabies and related sections of borough code.

The presentation, delivered by borough animal-control staff, said the assembly amended multiple sections to fix enforcement gaps staff had identified after the passage of an earlier inhumane-care ordinance. The presenter said fines that were previously smaller than the cost of compliance have been raised so penalties are more likely to spur corrective action rather than simply become a cheaper option than following the code.

The staff member described several specific changes. Failure to provide humane care is now subject to a single citation amount rather than a graduated warning-then-citation scheme and the previous warning for inhumane-care violations was removed so that an…