Citing unclear language in the county ordinances on dog licensing and animal control, the Flathead County commissioners voted Thursday to table a proposed interlocal agreement Thursday morning regarding dog licenses between the county and the city of Kalispell.

Joe Russell, the Flathead City-County Public Health Officer, presented the proposal that would have consolidated licensing between the county and city. He ran into opposition from the commissioners, but it was not as fervent as when he proposed one in April of this year.

“I think they want to make sure there is some congruency in the ordinances,” Russell said. “I don’t know where to go with this. I guess I look at it this way: They didn’t vote it down.”

Commissioner Gary Krueger said he wasn’t opposed to the consolidation but was concerned about doing things by the books.

“Whenever I’m not sure about something, I go to code,” he said. “I read code and read our dog ordinances and found out they aren’t really following the code.”

The county dog ordinance, adopted in Oct. 2003, is out of date. The commissioners would need to see an updated code on their agenda before they look at the interlocal agreement again.

“Some things in our code aren’t congruent with how we are doing things now,” Russell said. “For example it says the county appoints an animal control officer when instead we hire one.”

Several changes will need to be made to bring ordinances up to code, and even then, Krueger said the consolidation could be accomplished without an interlocal agreement.

“Kalispell could just change their dog licensing ordinance to say you need to get one from the county,” he said. “We have a couple options of things we can do going forward.”

Kalispell issues handwritten licenses. Flathead County’s licenses for canines are more expensive but also put the license number in an electronic database where stray dogs can be more easily returned to their owners. Whitefish also issues its own licenses. Columbia Falls allows the county to issue dog licenses.

Russell said the point of licensing in the first place is not just to return dogs to their owners but also to cut off chances of rabies, a public health issue. He plans to draw up new ordinances that will pass muster with the commissioners.

Sometime in the future, both Russell and Krueger could find common ground on a permanent license. Both expressed interest in paying once for a license for the lifetime of your dog rather than renewing it every two years.

Still, Krueger said he thinks licensing has a public relations problem before that happens.

“The rates of licensed dogs are lower than they should be,” he said. “What this shows is the public doesn’t necessarily view our licensing as important.”

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.