City hopes to make it easier for pet owners to get licenses

No one told this guy, but pets are supposed to be licensed in Kansas City. The city says very few have their paperwork in order in part because vets in Midtown and the central city rarely sell licenses. There’s a new plan to make licenses more widely available and easier for pet owners to obtain.

Fewer than 17 percent of dog owners and 3 percent of cat owners in Kansas City license their pets, but many have an excuse.

It does not help that almost no vets in Midtown and the central city sell the licenses, the city council public safety committee learned Wednesday.

So council members told city officials to start hawking the licenses at community centers and stores like Walgreens.

When it comes to vets and licenses, councilman John Sharp said, “there is a hole in the middle of the central city.”

For now, The Plaza Animal Clinic at 5002 Main Street is the only vet operation in Midtown or the central city on a list of vets who sell the licenses.

Patrick Egberuare, the manager with Animal Health and Public Safety, said vets there and some elsewhere refuse to sell them because of paperwork and the fact they only get $2 out of a $10 yearly license.

“Some don’t feel it’s worth the headache,” he said, but city officials will continue to ask vets to do it. “We’ve not given up on them.”

Pets also must have a yearly rabies shot to get a license and a three-year rabies shot to get a three-year license, which costs $27. The money helps operate and maintain the city animal shelter.

People can also buy licenses at Spay and Neuter Kansas City at 59th Street and Troost Avenue or online at petdata.com, he said.

His staff is already making calls toward adding community centers and businesses to the sell list, Egberuare said Thursday.

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