The state agency which oversees Pennsylvania’s dog wardens relies largely on revenue from dog licenses.

Those licenses still cost dog owners the same amount they did in 1996. But according to the state’s Secretary of Agriculture, it’s not enough to fulfill its responsibilities in 2021.

Secretary Russell Redding held a press conference Thursday to renew his calls for legislators to consider raising the fee for an annual dog license to $10.

Since the last time the fee was raised, the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement has lost 14 wardens, or about 23 percent of its force. Without the funds to fill those positions, the remaining dog wardens have been forced to cover multiple counties.

The bureau’s first responsibility is inspecting and policing the state’s dog kennels. They are also supposed to respond for calls about stray dogs and dog bites.

Due to the large number of open warden positions, strays and dangerous dogs have taken a back seat, Redding said. The responsibility ends up falling to state police and local authorities.

Megan Horst, a regional supervisor for the bureau, said she is solely responsible for about 1,000 licensed kennels in Montgomery and Lancaster County. The dog warden positions in those counties have been left open due to lack of funding.

The reason the bureau can’t fill its positions is because it’s no longer taking in enough in dog license revenue to cover its expenses.

The bureau existed on fees from dog licenses and kennel inspections throughout its history. But over the past five years, it has been dipping into reserve funds to balance the budget. With those funds depleted, the bureau is using taxpayer funds for the first time since it was created in 1893.

A 2020 report from the state Auditor General said that if the fee had increased with the rate of inflation, it would be $11-$14, depending if the dog is spayed or neutered. That is lower than in surrounding states, the report said.

Local animal advocates have varied opinions on the proposal to raise the dog license fee. But there is agreement that the state’s dog wardens need more resources.

Donna Crum, Carbon County’s only sworn humane society police officer, said the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement has been working too long without an increase in funding.

“In the last 24 years there’s been a lot of laws created. Which means there’s a lot more people breaking the law, which means there’s a lot more activity. And they’re short-handed to begin with,” she said.

Crum knows well that there aren’t nearly enough resources to deal with crimes involving animals, particularly in Carbon County. She isn’t paid for her position.

She, the dog warden and the state police all have different aspects of the law to enforce, particularly in cases involving neglect of dogs and cats.

“If it’s not something in our jurisdiction, we call the other ones.

Tom Connors, director of the Carbon County Animal Shelter, agreed that the dog wardens play a vital role.

But he doesn’t believe that an increase in the license fee would address the large number of dog owners who don’t bother to purchase a license for their pets. He said it’s unfair to charge more, and it could lead some people to stop renewing their licenses.

“If you raise the fee of those licenses, you’re going to hurt the good people who pay for those licenses. You’re going to get more saying ‘it’s not worth it to deal with this,” Connors said.

He suggested that Harrisburg could do more to address unlicensed dogs. They could make licensing a requirement to adopt a dog, or to pick one up when it runs away and ends up at a shelter.

“There’s more money in going after the people who aren’t doing it than making the people mad who are doing it,” he said.