Licensing your cat... How does it work where you are?

snake_lady

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I did not want to hijack the other thread, so I'm bringing it over here.

Another poster said
You have to have licenses for cats??? We can have as many cats as we like where we live but I think there's a limit on dogs.
We need to license our dogs. My county does not have to license cats, but a neighbouring city does. The license is not so much for limits, but for safety and responsibility. If the animal should happen to because loose, the license tag allows them to be returned home safely, without even entering a shelter. Without a license, your animal (dog or cat) could be picked up and sent to be euthanised. Licensing of cats has caused an uproar from certain communities as people feel its just another way for the city to grab money, etc. Maybe it is, but they also have to think of the benefit. Your beloved pet being returned to you.

In most places, the money from the license goes towards the animal care and control centers, so indeed it is supporting a good cause as well as of course controlling the pet population.

It is not overly expensive. For my dog, I pay $20/yr because she is fixed. I believe it is 35 for unaltered dogs.

My dog got loose once, and ran.... we went out and looked and looked for her.
When we got home, there was a msg on our answering machine from a woman about 10mins away. She had called the number on the license tag, and was able to get my number for the license record
Just that one time alone is well worth the $20 fee.

So how does lisencing work where you are? Do you have to license your kitty?

I expect soon, we will have to...since the neighbouring city already does.
 

bnwalker2

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Where I live, dogs have to be licensed each year. It costs $3 per dog if it's spayed or neutered, and $20 per dog if it's intact. For over four dogs within city limits, you are required to have a kennel license which costs $20 per year for up to $13 dogs and I think it's $35 for over 13 dogs. Cats are not required to be licensed, although they count within the four pet limit for city limits. Outside of city limits and you can have as many as you want. There is also no "leash law" for cats and they are allowed to wander as they please.
 
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snake_lady

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Originally Posted by bnwalker2

Where I live, dogs have to be licensed each year. It costs $3 per dog if it's spayed or neutered, and $20 per dog if it's intact. For over four dogs within city limits, you are required to have a kennel license which costs $20 per year for up to $13 dogs and I think it's $35 for over 13 dogs. Cats are not required to be licensed, although they count within the four pet limit for city limits. Outside of city limits and you can have as many as you want. There is also no "leash law" for cats and they are allowed to wander as they please.
Wow....that's cheap
Many the people here complaining about the money grab are right


At that price, I could see alot of people spaying or neutering their pets.
 

carolina

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In Dallas you also need to register your cat, all cats and dogs need to be spayed, and you can only have an intact cat with a special permit.
Dog and Cat Registration
The owner or harborer of a dog or cat must have the animal vaccinated either annually or tri-annually for rabies, present a certificate of vaccination, and pay an annual registration fee to Dallas Animal Services to obtain a registration tag for the animal.

Registration Fees

* Unsterilized $30.00
* Sterilized $7.00
You also can have only 4 dosg/cats or combination per single-family home.
 

littleraven7726

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Where I live the license is quite expensive. $10 per cat, and there's a leash law so they aren't supposed to be outside roaming. When you get your pet vaccinated for rabies, it gets reported to the county. The county then reports to your city. You get a letter if you haven't licensed. If you don't license after that you can get fines and ticketed.

It used to be less expensive but dog owners complained to the city, and they jacked up the cat licensing fees.
The only good thing I can say is the licensing fees actually go to animal control here. I know in a lot of other places it doesn't.

And there's a 4 total cats & dogs limit here. So with three cats we're very close to the city's pet limit--which is more lenient than some of the neighboring cities. One neighboring city only allows 2 pets!
Licensing is one of the ways they keep tabs on your pet numbers.
 

ladylonewolf

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In New York State, there is no licensing of cats. There was a proposal in Syracuse to impose a 3-cat limit per house, but I don't think it went through.

Dogs, on the other hand, need them. In New York City, license fees are $8.50/year for spayed/neutered dogs, and $11.50 for intact dogs. Upstate New York, where I live now, it's $2.50 for spayed/neutered dogs, and $10.50 for intact ones, plus whatever fees your local municipality decides to tack on.
 
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snake_lady

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Originally Posted by carolinalima

In Dallas you also need to register your cat, all cats and dogs need to be spayed, and you can only have an intact cat with a special permit.
Now that I like
It's a great thing for the pet population.

It would be nice to see something like that here. Your dog/cat could only be intact if you are a registered breeder.

I can see pros and cons to it though. Hmmmm, me thinks that would be another good thread, instead of hijacking this one.

It is very interesting to see the different rates. I'm happy to see that everyone who has posted, the rates are dramatically different when the animal is altered.

I expect to see cat licensing here within the next couple years. The neighbouring city, bout 35mins away, just started it within the last couple years.

I just checked the city's fees: $20 for unaltered, $12 for altered for cats. And you can only own 2.

In my town, 3 dogs max, and 5 rabbits max. Nothing said about cats.
 

cruisermaiden

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I don't know if "registration" is the same thing as "licensing"?

Here in Atlanta it is based on the County you live in. Where I used to live in Gwinnett County, there was no registration of cats (I don't know about dogs). I just moved to Dekalb County (in the same city/area) and you have to register your cats.

The vet has to report to the county when the animals get their rabies shot, and they give you a form to send in and pay your registration fee. It is $5 for all cats under 6 months, altered cats over 6 months and (I think) $10 for unaltered cats over 6 months. The form records their rabies tag # and indicates they are expected to wear that tag, and then the county sends you a letter saying they are registered on file with that tag #.
 

kara_leigh

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In our city you have to license both cats and dogs. In order to do so, you have to show proof of rabies vaccine. They actually require that mini pigs get the rabies vaccine also, but do not have to be licensed. For dogs, the fee is $50 for intact, $15 for fixed, and for cats it is $50 for intact, $12 for fixed. VERY high here, mainly I think b/c they built a new humane society a few years ago and they have to pay for it somehow. It sucks, though, b/c fixed animals in surrounding cities are only $5 to license.

It is nice, though, b/c when you are at the vet's office to get the rabies vaccine, you can just get them licensed right there. That is why I get my cats check ups right before or right after the beginning of the year. Licensing is due by March 15th.

In our city you can have up to 3 dogs and up to 5 cats. Other cities around us (our suburbs) have strange laws about the amount of animals you can have. Such as, only 3 animals over 6 months old, or up to two dogs and one cat or up to two cats and one dog for a total of three (cannot have 3 animals of the same species) or can have up to two cats and up to two dogs for a total of 4 animals and cannot have more than two animals of one species.

In our city there is only a leash law for dogs, but they do state that any animal (cat or dog) that is not microchipped must wear a collar and their licensing tag at all times.

This is what it says about breeding...

Any person who allows the breeding of a cat or dog (either intentionally or accidentally) is required to obtain a breeders permit for a $100 fee. If the offspring and mother are taken to the Nebraska Humane society for disposition, no fee is required. If the owner has the mother spayed within three months of producing a litter the $100 fee is refunded.

I had no idea about this law until I was reading up on the pet ordinances a couple weeks ago.
 

rahma

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There's a 3 cat limit in my city. My plans to become a crazy cat lady were squashed before they could even begin
 

forensic

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Where I live it's 35 unsterilized dog, 17 sterilized dog, 24 unsterilized cat, 11 sterilized cat. Wow, we must be expensive!

You can get around the licensing by never taking the cat to the vet, but once it gets a rabies vaccination the licensing department finds out.


I think we have a limit of 3 each? I dunno. It'll probably never come to that. (since I have to pay extra pet rent!)
 

icklemiss21

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The latest is we have to license dogs and can register cats.

Regardless of licensing or registering, there is a 4 pet maximum which most people I know are over.

I know animal control fairly well and they don't care and only use the limit if someone complains about the health or state of your animals. They wanted to set it at two and our shelter begged them to set it at 5 (the average animals owned by us) and we all settled on 4.

It is $25 for a speutered dog and $50 if they are not speutered as well as a $10 fine if you pay after January unless you can prove you just moved to the city or just got the dog.

We also have strict rabies vaccinations and leash laws and all animals are not allowed off your property unattended, cats must be leashed or crated or they will be picked up too. If they are not identifiable (city registration tag, microchip or collar) they are held for 3 days and then depending on which shelter has them, put up for adoption
 

ut0pia

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I have no idea about licensing where I live (Atlanta- Cobb county). The vet didn't mention anything to me, and today was my kitten's first vet visit. I do know that most vets have this microchipping service which allows cats to be registered with a microchip inserted and easily identified anywhere they are found. I know for sure that this isn't required by law.
 

ut0pia

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Originally Posted by AmberThe Bobcat

The only license I have is for my big cats, that I get from the state. I do not need one for my domestics
OMG How amazing you have bobcats!! I didn't even think it was possible to have big cats as pets legally..that's really awesome!!
I like your signature by the way- can you believe it's illegal to own a hedgehog in Georgia?? I wanted one lol it's ridiculous...
Do your domestic cats get along with the big cats and do the big cats live inside???
 

lovemykitty3

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We don't have cat licensing where I live. I've never heard about a limit either. I might have 3 or 4 someday but right now one is enough
 

sharky

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NO lisensing for cats ... they have a 3 limit but I talked to several cops( aka animal control around here ) and they said more is not an issue since all but one are indoor onlys ... Cats are not required to have even rabies and can roam as they wish ...

dogs are supposed to be lisensed but it is like 20 for spayed and 50 for intacted .. and have to be leashed or within the control of owners when off property ....
 

wellingtoncats

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Hey cool I was quoted!


Here in New Zealand we can have as many cats as we like whether they're desexed or not.

For dogs there is a limit of three in the old city I used to live in now in Wellington city we only have 1 dog but I don't think there's a limit. I think it's $35 to register her and she's spayed.
 

amberthe bobcat

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Originally Posted by ut0pia

OMG How amazing you have bobcats!! I didn't even think it was possible to have big cats as pets legally..that's really awesome!!
I like your signature by the way- can you believe it's illegal to own a hedgehog in Georgia?? I wanted one lol it's ridiculous...
Do your domestic cats get along with the big cats and do the big cats live inside???
Yes, I have 4 bobcats now (we just brought home our new baby girl a week ago on Monday). I need to add her pic to my signature. We also have a cougar and 4 domestic cats. Every state is different regarding the laws on ownership and many have total bans (I do not support bans). Yes, the domestics and bobcats get along great. However, due to his size, our cougar lives outside in a secure enclosure. He did live inside for a year before being moved outfoors. Our bobcats live inside and outside. They have a secure enclosure to go out in.
 

sakura

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If you are in the city limits, you are required to license them and it's $10 each (so long as they are spayed/neutered). Same price for dogs.

If you are not in the city and just in the county, you don't have to license cats (just dogs).

The license $ goes to the humane society, which has the contract for all of the animal control work in the county. It's a HUGE chunk of their income, so I would pay it even if I didn't have to.

It's illegal here to let your cat roam outside. I'm not sure that they enforce it...
 
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