Pet Ownership & Licensing plan and budget
Pet Ownership & Licensing provides citizen education on responsible pet ownership and regulates owners under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw. Animal care services are offered to ensure the health and well-being of recovered animals until they can be reunited with their owners or adopted into new homes.
Our customers
- Calgarians with lost animals
- Calgarians reporting animal concerns
- No-Cost spay and neuter services
- Fair Entry Program participants
- Safe-Keeping program participants seeking temporary care and housing for pets
- Fire & Emergency Response
- Calgary Police Service seeking assistance with animal related calls
Our partners
- Calgary Humane Society
- Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society
- Parachutes for Pets
- Make Each One Wanted (MEOW) Foundation
- University of Calgary Veterinary Medical Program
- Other internal lines of service (Parks & Open Spaces; Police Services; Bylaw Education & Compliance)
Value to Calgarians
- lost pets are successfully reunited with their owners
- recovered animals are socialized and altered for adoption
- no-cost spay and neuter program for low-income pet owners
- community peace officers promote public safety by responding to animal complaints
What we deliver
- Pet licensing services.
- Respond to citizen concerns involving animal incidents or emergencies.
- Community peace officers and volunteers promote Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw compliance.
- Shelter services ensure the well-being of recovered animals until they are reunited or adopted into new homes.
- No-Cost spay and neuter services for stray animals and Fair Entry program participants.
Budget breakdown
Operating and capital budgets explained
The City develops two budgets to create impact aligned with Council’s Strategic Direction:
- The four-year (2023-2026) operating plans and budgets
- The five-year (2023-2027+) capital plans and budgets
The operating budget includes revenues, recoveries and spending related to ongoing operations. These include:
- Salaries, wages and benefits.
- Day to day programs, maintenance and services.
- Administration costs (e.g., insurance).
- Fuel
- Utilities
- Capital financing costs.
The City's total net operating budget is zero. This means we budget to collect the revenue needed to deliver services to Calgarians — no more, no less. We collect this revenue through property taxes and other sources.
The capital budget pays for long-lived assets. These provide the foundation for the services Calgarians rely on. They include:
- Maintenance of current infrastructure (e.g., bridges, buildings and playgrounds).
- Upgrades to existing community infrastructure.
- New infrastructure to provide services in areas that are underserved (e.g., Green Line).
- New infrastructure for growing areas of the city.
Learn more about our 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets.
See how the budget has been adjusted since November 2022
Measuring performance
We are measuring our performance in five areas. Each value is the goal we expect to reach by 2026.
What we've heard
Calgarians report a high level of satisfaction with the service, identifying prevention, responsiveness, and safety as key values. Engagement recognized that offering programs to increase education and awareness on responsible pet ownership was important to promote safety. The 2021 Fall Citizen Satisfaction report identified that:
- 78 per cent of Calgarians indicated that the service is somewhat or very important.
- 93 per cent of Calgarians are satisfied with the job Pet Ownership & Licensing is doing in providing for animal control and licensing services.
- 87 per cent of Calgarians want more or the same investment in the service.
What we're watching
Our initiatives
What we plan to do
Pet Ownership & Licensing will strive to be a pet and public safety leader by offering equitable access to education and programs. Communicating the value of pet licensing and modernizing our approach to service delivery will further promote compliance with the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw.
How we're going to get there
- Promote responsible pet ownership practices through increased community outreach, advocacy and engagement
- Enhance community safety by increasing collaboration with our partners to implement dog bite prevention and dog safety education to Calgarians.
- Promote bylaw compliance and mitigate impacts to surrounding communities by delivering education and awareness to Calgarians on Livestock Emotional Support Animals and urban agriculture practices.
- Expedite animal reunifications and increase compliance with the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw by communicating the value of pet licensing.
- Improve responsiveness and access to virtual services by modernizing the technical infrastructure supporting the Animal Licensing Management System.