Pet Licenses

[lmj1954]

Yearly renewal time for my pets licenses. 4 out of 5 have a pet license. We have 3 cats, 1 without a license, and 2 dogs that have

licenses. So I thought I would go ahead and license Liberty Belle, the cat that never had one. She is 14 years old. I cannot get the

lower rate to license her unless I send in proof she is altered. Well, I do not have proof after all these years. The reason I was going

to license her is she is getting older, and if she gets sick or treatment I think the vet sends info to the Humane Society and she would

no longer be flying under the radar and I would get fined.....don`t know if this is how it goes. She never goes outside never goes near

the door to get out, just wants to be in the house so I have no concerns about her getting lost. She gets a rabies shot and vaccinations

every 3 years, but I am thinking about no more for her as she is older and they could do more harm than good, I will get her the rabies

shot as it is the law. She has not had a license all these years so I guess I am asking you all here, do you have license on your cats

and have concerns that if they get medical treatment you will be found out and fined?

 

[laura h]

Around here they don't seem to care at the vets office if you have a license. I have one for Comet because I live in an apartment building and without one i could be evicted. But I had a dog for 4 years, never had her licensed and the vet never said a word. 

Guess it varies on where you live. 

Laura

 

[margd]

I have never been fined for not having a license when taking an unlicensed pet to the vet. I didn't even know that was an issue. Chula and Paul are licensed but not all my pets have been.

 

[paiger8]

Neither one of my cats is licensed. I've never had a problem with other cats in the past. I've also never had a vet say anything. They're current on all shots now, but I also don't plan on getting them vaccinated for rabies again. They never go outside and I don't have any other pets. If I do get the rabies redone, I'll do the titer test first. I'm honestly more concerned about over vaccinating and having problems from that then them getting rabies. My aunt's Main Coon went into kidney failure at 3 years old, and the autopsy results said it was do to over vaccinating. 

In regards to the licensing, I'd rather not have the government checking up on me and my cats. I hugely think licensing is just a money maker for local government, and doesn't serve much purpose. 

 

[magister]

I can't comment on the U.S., but here IMO cat registration is nothing more than a sickening, despicable grab for money, with absolutely no concern, humanity or responsibility on the part of local council.

Assuming it was a good idea, and especially as they were indoor-outdoor, I kept Kîa's and Nimrod's registration up to date.


When Kîa disappeared, I contacted Council (as well, of course, as local vets, the RSPCA, the microchip registry and the local paper) to report her missing. After God knows how much faffing around at Council's end, I was informed that not only do they keep no records of any cat found dead, but that they don't scan the microchip, as it would be too distressing for their staff to have to contact any pet owner.


Well! My heart just bleeds! Heaven forbid one might have actually to do the job for which one is employed! Of course, sod any owner who might want actually to know what's become of a lost pet; that doesn't matter! So long as poor little Mr. or Ms. Council Worker doesn't have to strain their little, palpitating heart, presumably that's fine.


As one might imagine, I was not impressed. To be fair, the council ranger I talked to later was absolutely disgusted at the attitude at head office.


The only reason I keep up registration after that pathetic debacle is to keep valid the registration number associated with each cat. This info can be included on a tag, otherwise which mightn't contain enough info to ensure their return, should they be found by a member of the public; far easier for somebody who mightn't want to go to the trouble of taking them to a vet for scanning. All they need do is call local Council and quote the number, which is linked to their info, microchip number, etc..


Of course, this assumes that somebody at Council might get off their lazy, rear-ends long enough actually to bother checking and calling the owner. Perhaps calling to inform an owner that their pet has been found also might be a little too stressful for them! Needless to say, I'm ensuring their tags contain at least my contact number, as well as their registration number and Council contact; far safer all around, I'd say, given my experience.

 

[lmj1954]

I have never been fined for not having a license when taking an unlicensed pet to the vet. I didn't even know that was an issue. Chula and Paul are licensed but not all my pets have been.

I don`t know that it is a issue, that was always a thought I had and wondered if it was true about the vet- Humane Society reporting to each other. So

it was a thought I put in my own head, not something I ever heard.....I am just a worrier. 

 

[lmj1954]

Magister, that is awful!  Your bad experience was so bad! You would assume you could get the info you seek from them doing their job, that is the reason a pet

has a license, to support the things $ wise they do for the animals and get them home, or have reports on deceased ones in case a owner wants to find out if

that is what happened. You got zero answers and zero help, so unacceptable! Sounds like that group of people are getting paid for just being there.

 

[tallyollyopia]

 
Yearly renewal time for my pets licenses. 4 out of 5 have a pet license. We have 3 cats, 1 without a license, and 2 dogs that have

licenses. So I thought I would go ahead and license Liberty Belle, the cat that never had one. She is 14 years old. I cannot get the

lower rate to license her unless I send in proof she is altered. Well, I do not have proof after all these years. The reason I was going

to license her is she is getting older, and if she gets sick or treatment I think the vet sends info to the Humane Society and she would

no longer be flying under the radar and I would get fined.....don`t know if this is how it goes. She never goes outside never goes near

the door to get out, just wants to be in the house so I have no concerns about her getting lost. She gets a rabies shot and vaccinations

every 3 years, but I am thinking about no more for her as she is older and they could do more harm than good, I will get her the rabies

shot as it is the law. She has not had a license all these years so I guess I am asking you all here, do you have license on your cats

and have concerns that if they get medical treatment you will be found out and fined?

I don't know about where you live, but here it's been standard procedure for almost ten years now that all pets (or at least cats and dogs) get tattooed when they get fixed, so if the cat is taken to the shelter when it's lost it's easy for the vet on site to see that the cat has indeed been fixed without actually operating on the animal again. (Also, it's standard procedure to scan for microchips if there's any indication that a cat has gone through some kind of major surgery.) You might check with the vets to see if it's standard procedure there. Just a thought.

 

[LTS3]

Some cities and towns in the US may require pet dogs and cats to be licensed. I can see why dogs need to be licensed but licensing cats is harder to do and difficult to enforce. The town I live in has a pet license requirement for pet dogs and cats that has to be renewed yearly. Neither of my cats are licensed

Both are indoors only and kept up to date with their rabies vaccinations. My vet is in another city and my cats have never been refused treatment because they are unlicensed.

I highly doubt any vet sends any sort of info to a town / city hall for licensing purposes or to report an unlicensed pet or refuses to provide medical attention to an unlicensed pet.

 

[lmj1954]

 
I don't know about where you live, but here it's been standard procedure for almost ten years now that all pets (or at least cats and dogs) get tattooed when they get fixed, so if the cat is taken to the shelter when it's lost it's easy for the vet on site to see that the cat has indeed been fixed without actually operating on the animal again. (Also, it's standard procedure to scan for microchips if there's any indication that a cat has gone through some kind of major surgery.) You might check with the vets to see if it's standard procedure there. Just a thought.

Well, it was in California 14 years ago, I am now in Nebraska, do not even remember where I took her. But I decided she is fine without a pet license, thanks

for your thoughtful reply to help, I appreciate it. 

 

[betsygee]

 
Some cities and towns in the US may require pet dogs and cats to be licensed. I can see why dogs need to be licensed but licensing cats is harder to do and difficult to enforce. The town I live in has a pet license requirement for pet dogs and cats that has to be renewed yearly. Neither of my cats are licensed

Both are indoors only and kept up to date with their rabies vaccinations. My vet is in another city and my cats have never been refused treatment because they are unlicensed.

I highly doubt any vet sends any sort of info to a town / city hall for licensing purposes or to report an unlicensed pet or refuses to provide medical attention to an unlicensed pet.

Where I live, licenses for dogs are mandatory but it's optional for cats.  Mine aren't licensed.  

 

[greycat2]

As dar as I know it isn't mandatory for cats to have a license (yet) but for dogs - it is mandatory. Some areas it is mandatory for both cats and dogs - all depending on where you live. It is, however strongly encouraged for cats to have the Rabies vaccine and the 4-1 vaccine.

 

[magister]

Magister, that is awful!  Your bad experience was so bad! You would assume you could get the info you seek from them doing their job, that is the reason a pet
has a license, to support the things $ wise they do for the animals and get them home, or have reports on deceased ones in case a owner wants to find out if
that is what happened. You got zero answers and zero help, so unacceptable! Sounds like that group of people are getting paid for just being there.

No point in brooding on it of course, but definitely they shall not be forgiven for such stunning incompetence and lack of concern. Obviously, I'll never know now what happened to her, have no body, and must assume, nasty as it is, that she was found and simply dumped like rubbish in some land-fill or similar. Little Kîa did not deserve that; she never hurt anybody in her too-short life, and should have had so many more years of happiness, play and purrs, here with her brother, where she was safe and warm.

 

[fyllis]

This is an interesting read regarding the licensing of cats in the United States, as well as 'other laws' pertaining to cats. 

The laws and requirements vary from state, city and county. If you're not sure about what your state laws are, you might want to read (and save) this article!

https://www.animallaw.info/article/detailed-discussion-state-cat-laws#id-3

You can also Google 'licensing laws for cats' in your own state.