SOUTH BEND -- A year after it took effect, the county's animal control and licensing ordinance appears to be working, according to Dr. Carol Ecker, a veterinarian and head of the Humane Society.

Some 1,600 pets in the county -- outside of South Bend and Mishawaka -- have been licensed since April 1, she said.

But two Granger veterinarians criticize the ordinance.

Dr. Donn E. Kryder of Kryder Veterinary Clinic and Dr. Jeffrey S. Vogl of University Park Veterinary Hospital will meet with the council March 25 to discuss their concerns. They said they don't object to the entire ordinance, just the parts that ask them to license pets and provide information to the Humane Society.

Kryder doesn't like the part of the ordinance that requires veterinarians to fill out a certificate for every dog, cat or ferret they inoculate for rabies, regardless of whether the owner bought a license. They have to provide the information monthly to the Humane Society.

If someone doesn't want to buy a license, Kryder said, "I'm not going to be the Gestapo."

Giving information to the Humane Society will allow that agency to keep files on all pet owners. That would allow the Humane Society to go after certain owners who might be in violation, Kryder said.

For example, he said, the ordinance requires a family with more than three dogs or cats to obtain a kennel or cattery permit. Kryder said he doesn't want to be the source of information about families that have more than three.

He's also afraid the Humane Society might challenge information he puts on an animal's record. If he calls a dog a boxer/cross breed, he said, he doesn't want the Humane Society to second-guess him and say the dog is actually a pit bull/cross breed.

Ecker understands that veterinarians don't want to be the bad guys if a pet owner is found to be in violation. But the law is the law, she said, and the point is to control the pet population and keep the public safe from dangerous animals.

Records also can help reunite lost pets with their owners, she said. Dogs and cats adopted from the Humane Society or a similar organization must be spayed or neutered and microchipped, but not all pets are.

The veterinarians now have a supply of pet licenses for sale to owners. Besides the paperwork, they have metal collar tags with numbers to match the license number. (Dogs with microchips do not need the tags.)

Pet owners are not required to buy a license to get the rabies vaccination. But if the Humane Society receives a certificate of vaccination for an unlicensed pet, Ecker said, the owner will receive a notice that the license must be purchased within a certain amount of time.

Failure to have a pet inoculated can result in a $75 fine, while failure to license the pet could lead to a $50 fine.

By contrast, the tags cost only $5 for a pet with a one-year vaccination or $10 for a three-year vaccination for a pet that is neutered and microchipped.

"That's cheap,'' Ecker said.

The cost is higher for an unaltered dog or cat. To license a pet that is microchipped but not neutered costs $15 a year, while a pet that is neither microchipped nor neutered it is $25 a year.

The veterinarian can keep $1 of the fee for administrative costs, and the Humane Society also gets a share. The remaining money is sent to the county auditor. Ecker said about $33,000 has been collected in the past year. The money goes back to the county and participating towns to use for animal control.

The county had received $11,555 by last week as its share of the pet licenses, according to deputy auditor Cindy Bodle. She was unable to tell whether the income was higher than in the past, because such countywide records were not kept. Before the animal control ordinance, only dogs were required to be licensed, and township assessors issued pet licenses.

Bodle said the money could go back to the Humane Society, which has a contract with the county for animal control. The county paid the Humane Society $122,800 in 2006 and 2007, she said, but budgeted only $102,800 for 2008. The collected fees could help the Humane Society make up for the lower allocation, she said.

County Council member Michael Kruk, sponsor of the ordinance last year, and council President Raphael Morton have met with Kryder and Vogl to hear their concerns.

Kruk said he still supports it but doesn't want to sound as if he's made up his mind yet about the veterinarians' concerns.

Watch WSBT News at 5:30 p.m. to hear from Dr. Kryder before he meets with the County Council.