Hot weather may mean vacations and ice cream to many, but to Baltimore-area animal control officials, it means dogs running free, fouled sidewalks and lawns and animals left in steamy heat without water or shelter.

"You've got it in summer. June, July and August -- dogs without shelter and water, more cruelty, at large and barking," said Tahira Shane Thomas, animal control administrator in Anne Arundel County.

Officials in Baltimore and Harford counties agree.

"It's just everything. It tremendously increases in the spring and summer," said Jon Ziegenhorn, chief of Harford County's Animal Control Services. "That's when the humane investigations pour in."

Now the Howard County Council chairman, C. Vernon Gray, wants to force people to pay more attention to their pets and take better care of them -- with sharp increases in animal nuisance fines.

Instead of a $25 fine for a first offense, he would make it $200. The fine for a second offense would rise from $50 to $350. A third or fourth offense would cost a violator $250 to $500, up from $100.

"I've had some complaints," Gray said. "People with dogs not on leashes. The dog comes over on their lawns. We're dealing with sanitary issues," he said of people who don't clean up after their animals.

"It's becoming more and more of a nuisance. I thought it [higher fines] would be a deterrent," Gray said.

The county already can impose fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 for violations involving dangerous or threatening animals, and Gray is not proposing to change that.

He also wants to require the county to issue a pamphlet to each pet license buyer summarizing all the county's animal control laws and rules.

Currently, the pamphlets are available on request.

Most other counties have fines similar to Howard's existing ones.

But Anne Arundel County's fines, increased in September, start at $50 for a first offense, increasing in $50 increments to $500 for repeat offenders.

Baltimore County fines start at $25, but a second offense jumps to $100, with an additional $100 for each added violation.

"We don't have too many repeat offenders," said Charlotte Crenson-Morrow, supervisor of animal control in Baltimore County.

Fines for potentially dangerous animals are higher, up to $500, which is a deterrent, she said

"It works pretty well for us. If someone is not willing to pay attention, the $500 will make them sit up and take notice. The $500 is more of a silver bullet for that chronic dog that everyone is fearful of," she said.

Gray's bill is due for formal introduction at the July 1 County Council meeting, and will be the subject of a public hearing July 15 in Ellicott City, before a scheduled vote July 29.

One problem, said Ann Selnick, president of Animal Advocates, a private Howard group, is that many owners of animals do not have licenses for them. She would like to see the larger issue of animal treatment addressed.

"We need to concentrate on neglect and abuse and chaining [of pets] in Howard County. People who license their animals are responsible pet owners.

"The majority of people don't. Those people we would like to see the book thrown at," rather than just addressing nuisance complaints, she said.