Scenes from the City Council - Shoo, Pet Debate

The Cedar Rapids City Council sent its pet licensing plan to live on a nice farm in the country Tuesday night.

In an agile turn rivaling a competition border collie, the council voted down the “ordinance repealing chapter 23 of the municipal code, cats, dogs and other animals, and enacting a new chapter 23.”

That's too long. I like to call it “Scruffy.”

The council voted 5-3 just a couple of weeks ago to bring Scruffy home. Surely he'd be no trouble. A pet license would have cost a mere $10 per year for spayed/neutered pets and $35 per year for others, plus handling. Scruffy was supposed to raise $60,000 annually, or about 10 percent of the Animal Control budget.

But Scruffy was trouble. He's a common but unpopular bureaucratic breed, the “Fassle,” a combination of fee and hassle. A lot of pet owners didn't like him one bit. Scruffy was, for the most part, greeted with the public relations equivalent of a rolled-up newspaper. Scruffy fetched a ton of public angst for a pretty paltry $60,000. He even chewed up the mayor's good gavel.

So by Tuesday, Scruffy had to go. The sad task fell to Council Member Justin Shields, who changed his previous “yes” vote to “no,” sealing Scruffy's fate.

“I think there is very much more important things we have to deal with in this city,” he said.

But Council member Chuck Wieneke defended Scruffy. “I still think this item needs to stay on the table,” he said. But off the new couch.

Council members rejected a new public hearing and sent Scruffy packing with a whimper, 5-3.

So it's back to the drawing board for fee supporters. There's got to be another way to raise funds. Red hydrant cameras, perhaps. A council that's taken up pet licenses, dog parks, backyard chickens, flood cats and bats also may be able to ink a TV deal with Animal Planet.

Seriously, fee-backers' goals are sound, but they need a dog that will hunt.

Voluntary, one-time pet registration, for a small fee, could help with identifying lost animals. A low-cost spay/neuter program would address population issues and could be covered by fundraising.

As for Animal Control's budget, the city still is interested in working with the county. Council members and county supervisors have been sniffing around each other for months, unwilling to share their squeakies. I'm optimistic that cooperation, and savings, is still possible.

I left the meeting feeling a little bad for Scruffy but glad that the debate is over. I got home and my dinner was waiting for me in the oven. Hot dogs. Aww, man.