OTTUMWA — The city issued 1,032 dog licenses last year according to Jeff Williams, the city’s animal control officer.

That’s up from fewer than 400 in 2006, he said. That’s good.

That’s 1,032 out of an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 dogs. That’s bad.

Williams said the city is emphasizing the need for dog licenses. The message is starting to get through. But the numbers show there’s plenty of room for improvement.

“I do believe a lot of people are not really aware of it. Really, what it’s for is to protect your pet,” he said. “When I started this job I didn’t realize how many pets were getting put to sleep.”

Williams works out of his office in the Ottumwa Police Department. He said the city picks up dogs that are running loose. Those dogs go to a veterinarian’s office. The problem is that there’s no way to care for the dogs indefinitely. They are put down if no one claims them.

Williams acknowledges that it would be ideal to be able to turn the dogs over to groups like Heartland Humane and let them be adopted. Most are clearly family pets that have received care and love. But Heartland Humane has its own overcrowding problems to deal with.

“We go seven [days] now. It gives people a couple extra days because we are closed on the weekend,” Williams said.

Recovering your dog after police pick it up follows one of two paths. If there’s no dog tag, it means having to pay a $7 per day fee for housing and $10 for an initial assessment of the dog’s condition.

If the dog has a tag, the police can match the tag to a database and give the owner a call. That’s the cheap option from a monetary standpoint. The tags cost $2, compared to the $40-$50 it can cost if the dog is at the vet’s office for a few days.

The tag is also the cheap option compared to the fines for not registering the dog. The fine is $75 plus court costs.

Dog owners must get new tags every year. Police give owners through January of each year to meet the requirement. The tags require a valid rabies vaccine that is good for at least the next six months.

The tags are available at City Hall or the Ottumwa Police Department.

Williams said the police also plan to crack down on animal abuse over the coming months. He filed charges against two people last week after he followed up on a complaint and found a dead dog still chained up in their back yard.

The charges are comparatively rare. There were 12 citations for animal cruelty in 2007.