Glendale has raised the bond in animal-cruelty cases by 1,900 percent.
When Glendale police seize someone’s pet on suspicion of animal cruelty, the owner can ask a judge to give it back. But a new ordinance raises the bond from $25 to $500 per animal. The money goes toward the cost to care for the pet while the city’s process goes forward.
The ordinance shifts the financial burden off of the public, and onto the pet owner, said Rick St. John, chief of the Glendale Police Department.
“Last year alone, the city of Glendale’s taxpayers paid in excess of $200,000 for the care and maintenance of animals that were seized,” St. John said.
Under the old law, pet owners still received a bill for the remaining cost to board their pets. The new law keeps hoarders from paying small fees to delay the judge from putting the animals up for adoption, St. John said.
