HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-25-23 Public Comment - M. Brown - PRAT - Urban Parks and Forestry - Dog number misrepresentationFrom:Marilee Brown
To:Agenda
Cc:dangie@me.com; Mitchell Overton; Addi Jadin; Terry Cunningham; I-Ho Pomeroy
Subject:PRAT - Urban Parks and Forestry - Dog number misrepresentation
Date:Thursday, May 25, 2023 10:58:58 AM
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Greetings Park Board and Commissioners,
I recently ran across a letter written by Angie Kociolek stating that Deputy MayorCunningham misrepresented the number of dogs here in Bozeman. She then went on to use
the number of dog licenses issued as data to prove that he was wrong. Unfortunately, that datashould not have been used to represent the number of dogs as most dog owners do not register
their dogs!
The best data available would be to use the number of Rabies tags issued - but I am not able toaccess that data quickly.
It is true that the Census lists about 7,635 children in 20,000 households.
But Heart of the Valley estimates that there are over 20,000 dogs in Bozeman.
And economics would point to enough dogs to support:
- 6 stand alone pet dog and cat stores - 14 stand alone groom and board facilities for dogs
- over four thousand dog walker/care reviews and listings on line- 16 Veterinarian facilities totalling at a minimum 48 vets (at least 3 vets average per
facility and a similar number of vet techs not counted here)
Using the data that Ms. Kociolek used to estimate 2,000 dogs, that would mean that all of thefacilities above would not be sustainable. At a very minimum, (using the number of 48 vets),
the average visits per year per vet would be 41 per vet. I seriously doubt that a veterinaryoffice could support itself with 123 visits per year (41 x3). That would be less than one visit
per day for an entire vet office!
So let’s talk about the false data. Dog Licensing. It’s a hassle to license a dog. It costs $5 tolicense a dog (probably the cost of making a tag), but you have to take off time from work to
find the proof that your dog is spade or neutered and has a rabies tag and then find anenvelope, stamp and mail it in. There is no way to do it on line. I have talked to vets that have
said they would be happy to do it on behalf of the City just like Rabies tags are done - howeasy that would be. But no, the City wants to make it hard. I live in the County and use City
parks. There is no way that I will go to the hassle of registration even though I believe in it(for a $5 dollar tag that is unenforced?). And most other dog owners won’t either - even if
they knew it was required.
There is a famous story about the City trying to get dog owners to register. Back in the day,Commissioner Mary Vant Hull (the famous builder of parks) got the City to hire cute college
kids to go door to door to count and register dogs. She received so many negative and nastycomments “she cried for weeks”. The Commissioners have learned that politically, they
should stay away from calling for dog registration even though it could be a money maker (orat least break even). Thus, at least $100,000 is missed out on (5 x 20,000) - not to mention
public safety.
So the moral of this story is that there are in fact more dogs in this City than children. And 3photos of dogs in a 225 page (total with appendix(s)) City parks plan, probably misrepresented
the number of dog owners using parks in Bozeman.
Finally, the Park Board should lead the way to make it easier to register dogs. Having vets doit (voluntarily) would be so much easier. They have all the proof needed to register easily at
hand if provided materials from the City. At the very least, they could hand out the infoneeded and an envelope to mail it in. $5 (or $25 for intact dogs) is cheep. But considering the
amount of money that Bozeman citizens spend on their dogs - I think the price is not the issue- the hassle is.
Thank you,
Marilee Brown, owner of 2 brown dogs