Service dogs and dogs belonging to low-income pensioners and welfare recipients may soon be exempt from the dog licence fee, following the passage of a bill through the House environment committee on Wednesday.

The bill in question pertains to an amendment to Article 4 of the law on dogs, which stipulates an annual fee of up to €20 for pet dogs to be licenced.

Akel MP Nikos Kettiros explained after the committee meeting that the proposed exemption came about during a discussion aimed at “introducing proposals which do not cause serious costs to the state or to the people.”

He added that the bill in question “will not cause a significant problem for public finances or for local authorities.”

In passing the bill, he said, the committee “wants to send the message that these people who often need a companion animal will be able to do so without an end,” and said the exemption will apply to one animal per residence.

In addition, he said, the fee exemption could act as an incentive for people to adopt animals from shelters, which he said are currently full.

He also poured scorn on the Municipalities’ union, government agencies, and the Legal Service, which all expressed reservations and disagreements with the bill.

He asked, “I wonder how many years must pass before awareness regarding animals reaches the corridors of government,” and added that there will be numerous benefits, many of which are not financial, to passing the bill.

Diko MP Chrysanthos Savvides said that one sticking point may be the number of animals per household.

He said that having multiple animals in a house in the countryside surrounded by fields is “not an issue” as far as his party is concerned, but the idea that local authorities should have the power to limit the number of dogs living in an apartment or in a house is a point with which he disagrees.

He said such an idea is “wrong” and that there should be a unified nationwide policy for this matter.

With this in mind, he said “there are households which have seven, eight, fifteen dogs, twenty dogs, and this creates a huge issue.”

In addition, he said, many local authorities “do not have the staff to respond to the complaints they receive about dogs, such as pollution and other nuisance, nor about animal welfare issues.”