Is collecting money for pet licenses a money-losing proposition for municipalities?

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford ran on a platform of “respect for the taxpayers” and vowed to cut the “gravy train” if elected. Most media reports indicate that he found less gravy than he anticipated. Nevertheless, he persevered and brought on KPMG to provide advice on what services to cut. Amongst the suggestions were a few that seemed counter-intuitive to many observers, such as cutting revenue-generating programs like pet licensing.

According to an article in the Toronto Star:

Councillor Cesar Palacio, the right-leaning chair of council’s licensing and standards committee, applauded the report for raising opportunities for cutting aggravating and costly “red tape.” But he said he had not yet decided which types of licenses are unnecessary.

“We’re going to have a meeting to deal with this on the 25th. Hopefully by then I will go over this report line-by-line. I would not like to make speculations now,” Palacio said. Palacio was supportive of several of the report’s other suggestions. Among them:
• Eliminating pet licensing. Licensing officials were already reviewing the program, and the consultants said its value is “not evident” because only 30 per cent of owned dogs and 10 per cent of owned cats are licensed. Palacio said the city does not need “pet detectives peeking through people’s windows.”

Not surprisingly, the article stirred up a lot of debate in the comments section; here are some of the highlights (gently edited for spelling):

Why not?

Enforce the law regarding licenses for pets as if it is not enforced why would irresponsible people bother getting a license?

Responsible owners?

So owners that realize they don't want their pet can bring it to the pound? Why do that when they can just open their door and let that unwanted animal run out. Maybe run into traffic and die, damage a car while they are at it. It’s not like feral cats and stray dogs are becoming a problem within the city. Yes, stop the pick-up of unwanted animals because I'm sure the responsible people of Toronto are willing to bring in their unwanted pets.

You can add your thoughts in the comments section.