Does your mechanic issue car tags, registrations or drivers’ licenses? Then why is your vet expected to take on tag detail in some municipalities?
Sorry for the automotive analogy (trust me, I know pets are nothing like cars) but it’s been bugging me for years now that my staff and I are effectively obliged to handle the licensing of pets on our county’s behalf.
Apart from telling clients they can get their license at the closest municipal shelter (in a neighboring area 45 minutes away), we really have no choice in the matter. Our clients would balk at the notion that they’d be expected to acquire their tags at a separate location. Not when it’s been like this for thirty years.
Vets in my area are uniformly frustrated by the stress licensing pets foists upon us. We have to fill out yearly forms, issue physical tags the county sends us (late sometimes), maintain records for these, send a copy to Miami-Dade County (our governing municipality for pet licensure) and pay them the monthly proceeds from the license fees we collect on their behalf.
More than that, we need to explain county ordinances in detail so our clients remain in compliance, field calls and questions from clients who have been fined, and take the heat for frequent municipal missteps (as when clients are fined when they are indeed in compliance—something that happens unreasonably frequently).
Our egregiously mismanaged municipal situation may perhaps be a local issue, but responses to some of my previous posts prove that licensing pets can be a serious hassle in many parts of the US.
Licensing pets (dogs only in my area) helps fund Miami-Dade County’s shelters and our Animal Services Department. Because I believe these funds are used to help animals I urge my clients to tag their animals and remain in compliance. In general, I believe it’s good public policy to tax owners of pets for the services they might need.
Ask local vets, however, and the true state of the situation is made plain: We don’t tag our own pets. Why? Because we generally believe the County is more likely to fine us in error than it is to use our license fees wisely.
Why, then, should we vets expect our clients to license their pets? And yet we do.
It’s a serious problem—especially now that license fees have risen. In Miami-Dade County it costs about $30 to license a spayed or neutered pet and $55 for an intact one—every year. The fine for noncompliance? $60 and $160, for sterilized and non-sterilized dogs, respectively. If you're early or late on acquiring your tags you'll also be fined the same amount.
The chances that you’ll be found out of compliance if you never register your dogs? Unless your dog bites someone (and it gets legal) or gets rounded up by the dog catcher (highly unlikely) you’re very rarely called out.
So why risk yearly fines? If your own vet doesn’t license his/her pets why should YOU bother? If you know the possibility for being fined in spite of your compliance is high (due to all-too-common paperwork and computer errors), why tag your pet at all?
Such is the state of affairs in our area. And now they’re amending the system to make it more “foolproof.” Unfortunately, the new commandments are so vague that two emails to the head of Animal Services have failed to resolve my confusion.
It now seems that clients who initially receive licenses on a certain date of the month must secure their annual renewal on the same month and before the day they received their initial rabies tag—or be fined.
In other words, if they received their initial tag on October the third they have three days out of every October (for as long as their pet lives) to get their annual license renewed (Oct 1 through 3). If they purchase their tags any sooner (on September 30th, let's say) they’d be fined.
The explanations involved in helping my clients achieve compliance in this new world order (as if the previous conditions weren’t annoying enough) make me want to get out of the tag business altogether.
Why should vets be asked to take on this detail? It isn’t as though I went to school to enforce laws.
After all, must a doctor divulge individual health concerns to a patient's employer? Must priests turn thieves into the police? Does your car’s mechanic have to report unregistered vehicles?
Why, then, do veterinarians in municipalities like mine have to suffer the increased workload and stress of maintaining licenses for the county government? Why do I have to suffer the angst of enforcing local laws? Does my veterinary oath to heal animals extend to supporting my county’s tax structure so pets can receive shelter care when needed?
What do you think?
Add Comment31 Comments
In my town, it's the dog owner's responsibility to license dog/s each June by mail or by going to the town hall to do so. I can download a form from the web if I should acquire a new pup in need of licensing but the only responsibility the veterinarian has in this state is to issue rabies tags.
I generally take advantage of the mail-in way to renew licenses. My town actually sends out reminder cards to owners of licensed dogs with the updated information & all a dog owner needs do is check to be sure the information is correct & remit cards with a check to town hall. Tags then come by mail.
Only once in all the years I've lived in CT can I recall ACOs from several towns forming a team to go door to door within a given town to determine whether dog owners had dutifully licensed their dogs... or not, certainly a monumental task.
Ellie October 23rd, 2008 08:48:00 AM
Wow.
I can't think of a single reason commercial/private enterprise should be charged with administering legal compliance without authority and compensation.
Firearm sales might be the only similar situation.
eli October 23rd, 2008 08:50:00 AM
Ellie: Our area has flip-flopped on sending reminders...then saying reminders weren't *always* going to arrive and not to expect them. We send out reminders AND we've started to call our clients to make sure they know (so we don't get trapped by angry clients on "why didn't you tell me? issues). Frustrating!
Dr. Patty Khuly October 23rd, 2008 08:53:00 AM
My city dropped licensing, for reasons you mentioned. We still get a rabies tag when the dog has a vaccination, and it still has a year date on it. The city requires that dogs be vaccinated every three years. The tag can help track the dog back to the owner, since it has the veterinary office information and a rabies vaccination number specific to that vaccination. We are urged to also provide our dogs with ID tags that have the owner's contact information.
The city found that by having a lower fee for spayed/neutered animals--a great idea--only the owners of spayed/neutered dogs were licensing them! At least, that was the majority. The result was that the licensing actually ran the city at a financial loss! My dogs are always spayed/neutered, so I always licensed them.
Veterinarians felt as you do, and had a lot to do with the city's decision. It has been some years now. My dog wears two tags, as did my dogs before him. One is the rabies vaccination tag, and one is the stainless steel, embossed ID tag.
I had to work hard to find an ID tag maker whose product would hold up. Thank goodness I did find one. Apparently the lettering needs to be embossed rather than engraved.
Our city rightly emphasizes that dogs wear ID tags. Tatoos may be useful and so may microchips, but you can usually see a tag on a dog without touching. Then you know that is likely a dog you can help if wandering. Anyway, that gentle jingle gives me a lot of clues to my dog's activities!
--Kathy Diamond Davis
Kathy Diamond Davis October 23rd, 2008 08:54:00 AM
I totally agree with your position on this one.
Whether the money is used for a good cause or not, it's just not fair or appropriate to conscript veterinary staff into this process without remunerating them.
Stefani October 23rd, 2008 09:05:00 AM
In our area in Nova Scotia the vets are only responsible for issuing Rabies tags.
The county used to send someone around door to door to license dogs but I haven't seen that in 5 or 6 years at least. I do know if your dog gets picked up by animal control that you have to license it to get it back and I am sure pay a fine.
Mechanics here issue safety inspections but it's up to the police to enforce the law of people in violation by not having their cars inspected yearly not the mechanic.
Elizabeth - From Nova Scotia October 23rd, 2008 09:06:00 AM
That seems completely alien to me (in Vancouver) -- but then, other than the first time (to show proof of spay/neuter) I can get my licensing done online.
Licensing is done, shockingly enough, by City Hall's licensing department. Who knew? :)
donna October 23rd, 2008 09:14:00 AM
Here in Maine, which is admittedly a very rural state, the town or city government is responsible for issuing dog licenses. We don't have cat licensing requirements. However, at least half the dog owners I know don't license their dogs, even though it doesn't cost very much here.
Vets issue rabies certificates, which are required for licensing.
What I find troubling is that the non-licensing owners also tend to be non-vaccinating owners, despite the local humane society's continuous round of free rabies vaccination clinics (done by local vets who volunteer several hours on a Saturday for the benefit of local animal owners) in towns throughout the county. Rabies is a big problem here in Maine, and it's a public health hazard--not to mention a violation of state law--to fail to vaccinate your animals. But that's another discussion for another time.
I don't think it's fair to expect vets to issue licenses. You all are not law enforcement officers or city clerks, after all.
janea October 23rd, 2008 09:16:00 AM
That situation sounds unreasonable. Fined for buying a tag "early"??? Come on!
I feel for anyone facing such bizarre regulations. Luckily, I've never lived anywhere with laws like that. (And my latest move was my 33rd...so I've lived in a fair number of municipalities around the world.)
For the past 20 years or so, dog licensing laws in my various cities have been pretty straightforward, with online renewal available for the last few years, as a convenient option. And, for the record, I've never purchased a license through a veterinary clinic, although I believe many of them have been authorized to sell them. Currently, in the city we call our "primary residence," I go to city hall in January, and purchase a new license for my current cat and dog. In my last city, I purchased lifetime licenses (during the brief period that program was available), so I never had to renew, while I lived there.
(I wish more cities had that program - lifetime licenses - which was available only to spayed/neutered & microchipped pets. However, I understand that it significantly reduced potential revenue, as it wouldn't be attractive to pet owners if the cost was nearly equivalent in potential revenue as yearly licensing for, say, an estimated 10-year lifespan of the animal. As a consumer, you just don't know how long your pet will live, and pre-paying the equivalent of many years of licensing in advance may seem like a gamble. At the same time, if a lifetime license is just double or triple the price of an annual license, it quickly becomes a money loser for the municipality.
That's partly why I think the program was scrapped in my city. I think the yearly license fee was something like $15 at the time, and my lifetime licenses for my dog and cat were maybe $40 each. Eight years on, and it's easy to see how much more revenue the city might have made during that time, just for my two pets. Then multiply that with potentially millions of dogs and cats, and the bottom line is hemorrhaging. Then again, I'm a responsible pet owner and haven't needed, or contributed to, the services licensing fees are meant to cover.)
Marjorie October 23rd, 2008 10:38:00 AM
Isn't Miami Dade ACO too busy confiscating and killing harmless dogs of the "wrong" breed (pit bulls) to manage the licensing procedure?
(snark)
EmilyS October 23rd, 2008 10:55:00 AM
Considering the fees are used to conduct illegal search and seizures, killing healthy animals, intimidation of US citizens, AND push more onerous legislation - I really don't see the value of Animal Control! The limits imposed on pets are part of the problem. There are rescue groups importing animals from other countries - usually 3rd world - to satisfy the needs here. Feral cats are just killed! Please explain just WHY anyone should support this "new world order"?
These laws are being sponsored, supported, and lobbied by H$U$ and their counterparts. These organizations have NO respect for domestic animals - they want them extinct! Their agenda is to separate humans from the rest of the animal world. Why would ANY vet with half a sense of intelligence get in bed with terrorists?
Carol October 23rd, 2008 11:11:00 AM
Ridiculous. Can you say charge the city (or county?) a fee for providing services on their behalf? Maybe that would discourage this insanity.
Our licensing isn't as ridiculous as Miami-Dade. We can do it by mail, but there is no "renewal" option so every year we have to mail in the same documentation (proof of s/n + rabies tag) to get a license. As icing on the cake there are 3 year rabies vaccines, but no 3 year tags.
It's a pain in the butt and given the occasional whispers of BSL we get around here it really makes me question why I even license my dogs to begin with. So that they're easier to confiscate?
AdoptedAPBTs October 23rd, 2008 11:33:00 AM
In my Ohio county, the biggest rip-off about a license is that if you get a new dog that's more than 3 months old, any time between Feb. 1 and Nov. 30 you're supposed to license it right away - at the full cost of the 'late' fee because you didn't get the license between Dec. 1 to Jan. 31. They refuse to even consider a pro-rated amount, so no one I know gets a license until the regular time. Since the county will call you if they find a dog with a tag, giving you a chance to get your dog back (of course, if your tag's not current you also pay a very hefty fine before they release the dog), it does help get some dogs home, and the license fees support the county shelter, so I can see a benefit in licensing. The initial fee isn't the highest I've ever heard of, but it is close to $20, and double if you're late, so if you have multiple dogs, it can get a bit steep, especially in these times. I forgot one year, and with 5 dogs, well...
The threat of fines when I didn't renew on time convinced me to get compliant, but since the county had 'lost' one of the dog's info, I didn't remind them and just waited until the next registration time to add him back in - and they never noticed the discrepancy, oh well.
Kate October 23rd, 2008 12:04:00 PM
I wonder how common it is for municipal governments to expect vets to do their work for them? I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and all vets do here is issue rabies tags and a proof of rabies certificate (that they print out showing the tag number), which we use to register pets with the local government office (in my case, the city). I don't know if it's the same in all areas around here, but I think it is; I've never heard of vets issuing licenses before, and it seems completely unreasonable to me. I wonder how you'd go about getting the rule changed?
Mary Straus October 23rd, 2008 01:31:00 PM
At least one county in Oregon requires vets to report names and addresses of everyone whose pets receive rabies shots at that clinic. The county apparently cross-references to see if the pet is licensed in the county and contacts the owners if the pet is not licensed.
I live in another state, and I go back and forth on licensing when I get my next dog. My county wants rabies vaccinations and (adult) licensing done at 4 months, but I think that's too early for rabies. If my next dog is male, I'd like to keep him intact at least until he reaches physical maturity. My county charges about 2x for intact animals compared to altered. I've never known them to do a neighborhood sweep to check for licensing, so the risk is fairly low, imo, for not licensing.
kabbage October 23rd, 2008 01:32:00 PM
Hmm...Let's see, your office does all the work, managing the records, collecting the fees, reminding the clients etc. and the county collects bundles of money. What county official thought up such a good deal? But on the other hand, it is a convenience for your clients, no?
Chris October 23rd, 2008 01:45:00 PM
Mary: Does the county require you to get a license elsewhere? Do you pay for the tag? For us the tag IS the proof of licensure. If that's your case as well, your vet is doing county work, too.
Dr. Patty Khuly October 23rd, 2008 02:43:00 PM
Where I live (in Calagary, AB), licencing is fairly easy. To get the licence, you can call, fill out an online form or go into City hall. If you go in person, you pay and get the tag right away, if you do it the other ways, the tag comes in the mail. You also get a form that has the licencing info on it for records. The tag is vaild for the pets life (no need to get a new one every year). The city send you the paperwork to renew the licence every year (what month depends on you last name). You just fill out the form, attatch money or pay at a bank or go in person and your done for another year. I am not 100% sure about the fee, but for dogs if about $30 for fixed and $55 if not and cats is $10 and $30. The fine for not licencing is $250. You are supposed to have the licence renewed before is expires, but there is not penility if its not done right away or too early. If you were several months late, there is probably a fine. You are given about a month form when the notice come till the licence expires.
Both my dogs are licenced and have been since they were puppies. I have not have to reap the benifits of the tag, nor have I had any ill effects from it.
Calgary does not rely on vets to deal with licenceing. There is no manditiry vaccinations and so the vet would not be a good place to get a tag.
Kate October 23rd, 2008 04:43:00 PM
In the city where I live (In Israel), there are no license tags- just the info in the microchip.
(Well, I did get a tag saying "I'm micro chipped!" but it didn't have any date on it).
For dogs, one must vaccinate for rabis once a year (either by one of the "approved" private vets or at the city veterinary dept., where they just vaccinate and don't really do an exame) and pay an annual fee (the date goes by the date the dog was first vaccinated for rabis, so each dog has a different annual date to renew it's license).
We do get reminders by mail.
If you prefer to vaccinate at your own vet , the vet will usually send the paper work in to the city.
The city is the body in charge of updating the national micro chip registry, so if one wants their dog's micro chip information to have their information in the database, they have to register it.
Cats don't need licenses here.
Xslf October 23rd, 2008 05:37:00 PM
Outrageous, your state VMA should lobby for change in legislation. If that seems impossible, I guess attempt to make it as easy for the office gals, by setting up online or mail-in payment. Two notices, if no compliance...it sure isn't your job to chase people.
Barbara A. Albright/New Hampshire October 23rd, 2008 09:27:00 PM
This reminds me of the spay/neuter laws that animal rights groups wanted to foist onto Vets to police as well, making your private client DB the de facto means of policing the laws. Nothing like turning a professional against their clients and conscripting Vets to do the government's work.
In reality almost any new enforcement law would have to come at the expense of Vets. Police simply don't have the manpower or the exposure to pets to do any kind of regular enforcement at all! Thus, when pet regulations need to be universal and mandatory, like licensing, they foist the responsibility on to Vets. It's either that, or a DMV for dogs, which would be a mad house.
But for all the other laws out there, it's only upon a complaint call that animal control and offender ever meet.
Christopher Landauer October 23rd, 2008 09:43:00 PM
I think it's a pain in the butt for everyone. And no, Emily Miami-Dade isn't too busy rounding up dogs on the FBIs most wanted list. I recently had to cough up $120 because I was late. Actually, since the police department took over I think they are more adept at catching us scofflaws, or maybe they just aren't as forgiving. Before they took over, I just had to fax in the registration and all was forgiven.
Karen October 23rd, 2008 10:29:00 PM
IN NJ the individual towns do the licensing/fines. It is absurd to push that burden onto the vets...But Florida has some funky rules/procedures.
It's certainly not the vet's job. IF it is a county system then the county should handle it, in NJ we don't have county systems very much individual towns do all their own police/fire/ambulance/taxes/licensing etc...
It was obviously some politician's brain child to save money by passing that buck to the vets to deal with.
LorriM October 23rd, 2008 10:46:00 PM
Here in town & I suspect throughout the state of CT, intact animals are licensed at a much higher fee than altered ones. I have two intact males, kept intact so the breeders can show them, that cost me $19 each for a license. I need to show proof of current rabies vaccination & am reminded on the card mailed to me, when a rabies update is needed.
I, too, had no luck convincing my town that if they wanted me to license 6 month old pups halfway into the licensing season they needed to pro-rate the fee. As a result I simply won't license until the month of June at renewal time.
I have a string of license tags dating back 30 years for all the dogs I've dutifully licensed even when I had a 6 or 7 dog household. So I admit to defying the law to the extent of not licensing mid-season. Would that some of my neighbors would even consider licensing their dog for the first time.
Ellie October 24th, 2008 09:07:00 AM
Develop a fee for handling the chore.
Ask your clients whether they would quit you if you implement it.
or
Ask your lawyer about a suit against the county for payment for your time. You are describing a condemnation of your professional office, time, and employees. Imposition of the job on you is a form of appropriating your property. I think the constitution might read on your problem.
Jim Irvine October 24th, 2008 05:02:00 PM
What do you think?
**************
I think the vets in your county need to suddenly develop a collective and universal disinterest in enforcing a bunch of bullshit gotcha laws without compensation.
Clearly the safest bet for a pet owner in Miami-Dade is to NEVER license in the first place. Fly below radar.
Let's say I have a dog for thirteen years, and she is intact for eight of those.
Nearly $600 in dog tax over her lifetime, with a serious chance of getting fined for being "late" or "early" while trying in good faith to comply -- or take my chances on a highly unlikely $160 fine. Easy.
This is not licensing, and it is not a dog tax -- it's a punitive fine for the crime of owning an animal.
H Houlahan October 26th, 2008 09:22:00 PM
a license is a permit.. What is a dog license? What happens if your permit is revoked? Fees are just that .. fees. a tax upon animal owners, especially ones who have the nerve to let their animals stay as they were born even if they never reproduce. As long as vets agree to tax their clients for the county why wouldn't the county continue to "use the services" for free...such a deal.. the vets do the work.. the county gets the money... the dogs owners get .. well you know what they get.... bend over.. get a license... So many more dogs would be in compliance with their pets if they weren't 'tracked" by big brother....
jan November 24th, 2008 09:32:28 PM
I went to a rabies clinic to make my dog rabies compliant and protect both her and me. About two weeks later I received a letter saying my dog had a rabies shot at the clinic and she needed to be licensed for $25.00. Isn't my dogs medical info private? I got a rabies shot at the clinic because I couldn't afford the $55.00 vet rabies shot. Now I am still paying. Is this just a way for the town to get money? They don't license cats, horses, hamsters, etc, do they? No wonder so many dogs go to the shelters. People aren't allowed to just enjoy the company of their dogs without big brother in their pockets.
trudy November 29th, 2008 07:54:44 PM
Rabies vac / Distemper A vac, Miami Dade County. Vet's administering vaccine . How certain can one be that Rabies & Distemper A vaccine is being properly administered by your Vet. Who is watching your Vet and how sure are you that your dog or cat is vaccinated correctly.
investigator January 20th, 2009 02:17:24 AM
Hi, a good friend of mine I am assuming just didn't know in our county (Monterey) your dog MUST be licensed. He has two Dachshunds. Both males,one is intact. He is 5 yrs old and has a license from previous owner, so he's always been current. The other is 8,nuetered, no license. Both always get vaccinated. The vet does not give out rabies tags. My freinds excuse? Oh,they never get out! HA! Boy was I miffed! So I told him the importance of licensing the other dog,it's the law here and it's a way of Id for the dogs. He's going to take care of it sometime, just wish he'd do it ASAP! But, they are his business, he does love them and agrees with me. Maybe he didn't know it was the law and never had a dog "get out". Anyway, he will have to pay fines as well as a license fee. I am a worry wart when it comes to my dogs/cats and they have ALWAYS been licensed. I worked in the pet fields,assistant vet,groomer and animal nutritionist.
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