Is your dog licensed with the county? If not, you should definitely make the small annual investment to get a dog license for your canine friend. Depending on whether you live in Pinal County or Maricopa County, the modest fee for altered dogs varies slightly, but either way there are many benefits to licensing your dog every year:
It’s the Law
State law requires that all dogs over three months of age are licensed and vaccinated against Rabies. The tag you receive the first time your dog is licensed should always be attached to their collar – it is proof that your dog has been licensed, is linked to your contact details, and will help you avoid a citation and fees for failure to license.
Rabies Prevention
State law requires all dogs over the age of three months to be vaccinated against rabies. Having a dog license allows city and/or county agencies to ensure that your dog is up to date with their rabies vaccination. Dogs must have a current rabies vaccination to apply for, or renew, a dog license. Rabies is a potentially fatal disease for humans and animals, and we need do our part to prevent it.
Free Ride Home!
A dog license gives animal control agencies a way to identify you as the owner of an impounded animal, so they can get the animal back home. If your dog is picked up at large by an Animal Control Officer, having a current license and contact information on file means your dog will be returned directly to you that same day (when possible), without your dog having to come into the shelter.
Pay a Fee, Save a Life
The fees collected from licensing directly support the daily care of the thousands of animals that enter county shelters each year; licensing your dog helps all the other dogs and cats that are waiting to find their forever homes.
Safety First
When you license your dog, you are registered as the dog’s owner and your information is entered into the county database – if your dog is ever lost, this helps the county to more quickly reunite you both. Remember that if you move home or change your phone number, update your contact details with the county.
Save Money
In Maricopa County, if your licensed dog is lost and picked up by MCACC but they are unable to reach you, the first 24 hours at the shelter will be at no charge. Also, if a licensed dog bites someone, it may be eligible for home quarantine, rather than being quarantined at your expense in their facility or at a veterinary hospital. We could not find information as to whether Pinal County offers a similar benefit.
Pinal County | Dog License Application Link
Maricopa County | Dog License Application Link
Contact Compassionate Animal Care Today
If you need to schedule a Rabies vaccination in order to get your pet licensed, please call 480.774.6995 to schedule an appointment with Compassionate Animal Care in Queen Creek today.
