Missed license renewal dogs pet owner

When James Pendergast failed to relicense his 17-year-old dog, he figured he had a pretty good excuse: He was moving out of Seattle to his family home in Florida, and taking the dog with him.

But he didn't tell Seattle Animal Control, never believing he was supposed to. Now he's nearly $500 poorer — the result of fees and fines that snowballed and eventually were garnisheed from his bank account.

What happened in Pendergast's case — the result of a licensing crackdown by Seattle Animal Control — may serve as a cautionary tale for other Seattle-area pet owners who put off getting or renewing a license for their pet.

The agency has assigned three officers specifically to target unlicensed pets, going to dog-run parks and other city parks — and even to people's homes. Officials say it's resulted in a huge increase in the number of licensed pets in the city.

Pendergast's story began last September when Animal Control sent a notice to the West Seattle address it had for Pendergast, saying he had failed since 2003 to license his dog, a border collie mix named Cayla.

The notice said he owed $45 — $30 for a two-year license plus a $15 penalty — and that if he didn't pay it by Nov. 15 an officer would be contacting him to collect it.

But Pendergast — while chagrined that he was, in fact, delinquent in licensing his dog — says he'd moved away by then and never received that notice or a subsequent one an Animal Control officer hung on the door in December, citing him for failure to obtain a pet license.

When the orange violation notice showed up on the door, Pendergast's former landlady said she immediately called Animal Control to tell the agency that he'd moved to Florida.

But by then the legal process was marching forward. The case had been sent to the city's collection agency, AllianceOne.

Late in February, Pendergast, a consultant who recruits doctors for hospitals and clinics, moved back to Seattle, saying he'd planned to stay in Florida but found he loved Seattle more.

The mail was waiting for him at the old address: the initial penalty notice and the orange citation. Intending to relicense his dog, he thought little of it. Several months passed.

Then last week, he learned just how seriously the city was taking the matter when he discovered that nearly $500 had been taken out of his Washington Mutual checking account.

"I went to pay bills and saw all this money was taken out," said Pendergast, 41. He said the original pet-license costs had grown to include other fines, court costs and collection charges totaling $348. Plus, his bank tacked on another $100 for a processing fee.

Pendergast said he can understand getting dinged with some penalties, but that nearly $500 is excessive. "I'm a criminal, over a dog license," he said.

Don Jordan, head of Seattle Animal Control, said his agency has an aggressive license compliance program and goes after cases of unrenewed licenses like Pendergast's.

"It's like police issuing a traffic ticket," he said. "It won't go away, and at some point it's sent to collections."

According to Seattle Municipal Court records, Pendergast was issued a citation for not having an animal license on Sept. 18 and charges were filed on Sept. 21. When he didn't respond, penalties were added and a judgment entered.

On Dec. 7 the case was sent to AllianceOne. Court files show that between Jan. 1 and Feb. 6, AllianceOne tried 13 times to reach Pendergast by phone. Pendergast said his home phone had been disconnected by then and he doesn't believe court officials had his cellphone number.

"They never contacted me," said Pendergast. "I would certainly remember that."

The records show that on Feb. 6 AllianceOne took steps to garnish his bank account. AllianceOne could not be reached.

Jordan of Animal Control said he doesn't know how often cases end up in court as Pendergast's did, "but we issue 1,200 citations a year, and if 20 go to court I'd be surprised."

Jordan said his agency began to get aggressive about finding unlicensed pets in 2005, when one compliance officer was assigned to target parks and off-leash areas. Jordan said licenses increased 27 percent that year, and two more compliance positions were added to the 2006 budget.

As for Pendergast's options? He said he doesn't think it's worth the money to hire a lawyer and fight the garnishment. He said he's going to sell his $1,000 Seahawk season ticket to cover the pet licensing fine.

"I'm not going to throw money to get money back," he said. "It would be futile."

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com