Door notices just an attempt to educate and get more pets licenced, says firm contracted by city

Melissa Martin was a little confused when a notice showed up on the door handle of her east Guelph home identifying her as having an unlicenced pet.

“We have identified a pet at this residence. Our records show that this pet is not licenced with the City of Guelph,” reads a door knocker left on some homes.

"It was, like, 'how do they even know we have a dog?'" said Martin of the bright yellow door knocker with the City of Guelph logo on it. "Were they snooping around my house?"

But the company contracted by the city to handle pet licensing explains there is nothing underhanded about the notices.

“To be frank, a lot of people make assumptions,” said Kayla Napier of DocuPet, the Kingston-based firm the city has used for the past four years to handle dog and now cat licencing in Guelph.

Napier said the program is all about educating the public and making sure pets get licenced.

Since November, DocuPet employed two university students to walk Guelph neighbourhoods leaving pet reminders on door handles.

They have a list of homes that previously had a pet licenced but no longer do and the “We have identified…” door knockers are left at those homes.

The students also leave that notice at homes where there is clear evidence of a dog, such as barking from inside the home or ‘Beware Of Dog’ signs.

“Sometimes it’s blatantly obvious,” Napier said.

Follow-up letters are sent to homes that had a pet previously licenced but don’t any more.

If someone notifies DocuPet that they are new owners to the home and don’t have a pet, or that their pet passed away, they are taken off the list and won’t receive further notifications.

They are not investigating and snooping around residences, said Napier.

The students hit around 20 and 30 homes an hour and will eventually cover the whole city.

The service is part of the extras the company offers the 20 municipalities it currently contracts with. It also has a lost pet program.

“It’s about bylaw awareness and a desire to educate the community,” she said.

In 2017 there were 4,483 dog licences issued in the city, up 130 from the year before.

There were 854 cat licences issued, a program that didn’t become mandatory until Jan. 1 of this year.

Licences can be purchased online, at the Guelph Humane Society or at City Hall.