Animal Welfare Professionals

Do any of your cities require licensing of pets?

If so, how is it enforced?

Where do the funds from the licensing go?

Thanks for your input.
#LawsandPublicPolicy

------------------------------
Samantha Polen
Executive Director
T-Town TNR, Inc.
Tulsa OK
https://www.ttowntnr.com/
------------------------------

Hi Samantha,

We serve as the animal control of record for 14 of our local municipalities.  Nearly all of our municipalities require dog licenses, a handful require licenses for cats.

We provide pickup and dropoff services for stray animals, stray holding, and license enforcement for animals returned to owners. 

Enforcement is pretty much handled specifically by charging an owner when they come to pick up their animal.  We also charge running at large fines on behalf of the municipality if it's within their local ordinance.  I haven't heard of license enforcement happening from the law enforcement level and that's outside of our purview as we do not have specific appointed Animal Control Officers or other police powers under our state or county laws.

For funds, we collect license fees, late fees, and running at large fines on behalf of the municipalities and pass that through to them as part of our contract.  We also do rabies vaccination enforcement for these animals as part of the licensing process.  Separately, we charge pickup and boarding fees to owners and receive funding from the municipalities as part of our contract.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-27-2023 07:56 AM
From: Samantha Polen
Subject: Municipal Licensing of Pets

Do any of your cities require licensing of pets?

If so, how is it enforced?

Where do the funds from the licensing go?

Thanks for your input.
#LawsandPublicPolicy

------------------------------
Samantha Polen
Executive Director
T-Town TNR, Inc.
Tulsa OK
https://www.ttowntnr.com/
------------------------------

The City of Perris in California is a community of 85,000, and we require licensing. The city only has animal control and contracts with the local County shelter. Whenever we contact a dog owner in the field, we issue a fix-it ticket and refer them to a drive-through vaccination clinic so they are not paying an extra fee to have an office call.  If they want to spay and neuter, I will contact the local shelter to get them an appointment. Sometimes there is a grant, and the pet is spayed/neutered for free. I have sat in with Pet data, and their research has shown a specific cost will ensure that more people will license. Our fees are $ 55.00 for unaltered and $15 for altered; this is the threshold to ensure that more people license.  We waive late fees always. When time is permitted, we go door to door and share resources and educate the public on why licensing is essential as a return-to-owner tool. The funds go into the general fund.  I am always thinking of ways to enforce licensing as it is a way to ensure that dogs are quickly returned to their owners if they have their license tags on. During licensing, we also enter microchip numbers into our database, so another form of identification exists.  I believe that licensing is a sure way to have contact with the community every year and to ensure pets are seen by the veterinarian, even if it is every three years. Most importantly, it is a way to introduce the concept of spaying/neuter.

------------------------------
Christina Avila
City of Perris Animal Control
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-27-2023 07:56 AM
From: Samantha Polen
Subject: Municipal Licensing of Pets

Do any of your cities require licensing of pets?

If so, how is it enforced?

Where do the funds from the licensing go?

Thanks for your input.
#LawsandPublicPolicy

------------------------------
Samantha Polen
Executive Director
T-Town TNR, Inc.
Tulsa OK
https://www.ttowntnr.com/
------------------------------

I work in licensing for our District. We license for the entire county.  (population 600,000 and rising fast) Each city had their own Animal Control Officers and then the animals come to this central shelter. (One shelter for the north part of the county and one shelter for the south part of the county.) If someone purchases a  license for their pet, it is good anywhere in the county even if they move to another city. The information goes into a central data base and we also put  microchips into this system as we come across them. (Cats don't license here but we do enter their microchips) The licensing funds go into the shelters to help with costs of running them. The license fee is low, but an unaltered animal is going to have a higher fee. $15 altered and $35 unaltered. The cities enforce their own ordinances. We don't ticket or enforce any laws at the shelter level, but animals do need to be licensed with a current rabies shot before they leave our care. The largest advantage to having a data base with this information is a quick way to marry the ID (license) with the rabies information. (Also a quick way to look up any chipped animal that we have entered. Officers do have access to this information to try to get the pet home as soon as possible.) ​

------------------------------
Carrie Ward
South Utah Valley Animal Services Special Service District
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-27-2023 07:56 AM
From: Samantha Polen
Subject: Municipal Licensing of Pets

Do any of your cities require licensing of pets?

If so, how is it enforced?

Where do the funds from the licensing go?

Thanks for your input.
#LawsandPublicPolicy

------------------------------
Samantha Polen
Executive Director
T-Town TNR, Inc.
Tulsa OK
https://www.ttowntnr.com/
------------------------------

Pet licensing in my city is extremely low. I think it's less than a 100 animals have been licensed each year. Operation is about 68000 people. The city does not really push it it's  $5 for an altered pet and $30 for an unaltered or dangerous pet. Our animal control department suffers greatly from lack of funding part of a part because of this issue. Also the lack of licensing does not help the fact that we have a low return to home rate in our city. It also hampers with getting information out to the pet owning families about resources available to pet owners.  It is embarrassing to say that our organization has been fighting for almost 11 years for green space for dogs and people to recreate. Animals are not a priority in my city. And we have a big problem here because of it.

------------------------------
Michelle Robinson
Cause 4Paws Gary,INC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-27-2023 12:08 PM
From: Carrie Ward
Subject: Municipal Licensing of Pets

I work in licensing for our District. We license for the entire county.  (population 600,000 and rising fast) Each city had their own Animal Control Officers and then the animals come to this central shelter. (One shelter for the north part of the county and one shelter for the south part of the county.) If someone purchases a  license for their pet, it is good anywhere in the county even if they move to another city. The information goes into a central data base and we also put  microchips into this system as we come across them. (Cats don't license here but we do enter their microchips) The licensing funds go into the shelters to help with costs of running them. The license fee is low, but an unaltered animal is going to have a higher fee. $15 altered and $35 unaltered. The cities enforce their own ordinances. We don't ticket or enforce any laws at the shelter level, but animals do need to be licensed with a current rabies shot before they leave our care. The largest advantage to having a data base with this information is a quick way to marry the ID (license) with the rabies information. (Also a quick way to look up any chipped animal that we have entered. Officers do have access to this information to try to get the pet home as soon as possible.) ​

------------------------------
Carrie Ward
South Utah Valley Animal Services Special Service District

Original Message:
Sent: 01-27-2023 07:56 AM
From: Samantha Polen
Subject: Municipal Licensing of Pets

Do any of your cities require licensing of pets?

If so, how is it enforced?

Where do the funds from the licensing go?

Thanks for your input.
#LawsandPublicPolicy

------------------------------
Samantha Polen
Executive Director
T-Town TNR, Inc.
Tulsa OK
https://www.ttowntnr.com/
------------------------------

Thanks to everyone for your input and replies!  Very helpful!

------------------------------
Samantha Polen
Executive Director
T-Town TNR, Inc.
Tulsa OK
https://www.ttowntnr.com/
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-27-2023 07:56 AM
From: Samantha Polen
Subject: Municipal Licensing of Pets

Do any of your cities require licensing of pets?

If so, how is it enforced?

Where do the funds from the licensing go?

Thanks for your input.
#LawsandPublicPolicy

------------------------------
Samantha Polen
Executive Director
T-Town TNR, Inc.
Tulsa OK
https://www.ttowntnr.com/
------------------------------