The City’s Municipal Services Committee on Monday gave the Auburn’s animal control and licensing ordinance a second look.

“It’s about errors and omissions from the original code that we brought forward in November when we started the animal control and licensing,” said Darcie Hanson, City administrative and business services manager.

Perhaps the most significant suggested change would add language requiring proof of a valid, current rabies vaccination prior to the issuance of a pet license.

That, said Assistant City Attorney Steven Gross, is about squaring the City’s ordinance with state law.

Washington’s Administrative Code (WAC) requires each local jurisdiction to enforce the rabies shot requirement — cities don’t have to administer the shots — and provides penalties for pet owners who don’t get it done. The first shot is valid for one year, each subsequent shot is valid for three years.

“That’s big change, a huge requirement,” said Committee Chairman Bill Peloza.

Rabies shot fees vary based on the fee schedule of the veterinary office where the shots are given. A pet license for unaltered pets is $60, and $30 for altered animals. For altered senior or disabled pets, the fee is $15. There is no fee for service animals but their owners still must get a license.

The reworked ordinance also:

• Officially recognizes the Senior Lifetime Licenses King County had offered before the City of Auburn ended its contract with the county and opened its own animal control and licensing program Jan. 1. Such licenses expire with the animal.

• Where City officials last fall had talked about making licenses expire at the end of the calendar year, the new wording makes the rolling license expiration official.

Because of constraints the City’s finance department has imposed, Hanson said, some veterinarians are pre-purchasing licenses and selling them at their office. Once the veterinarians or the animal shelter sells those licenses, they buy more from Auburn City Hall and report to the City who has bought the licenses.

“Our finance department won’t allow me to enable them to take in money on our behalf, off site, at their clinic, and then report to us,” Hanson said.