Town to Take on Dog Licensing Duties

As of Jan.1, local governments will take over responsibility for licensing pets.

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets previously had responsibility for providing dog tags, maintaining dog licensing data or mailing licensing renewals. 

Gov. David Paterson signed the change into law June 22  as part of the 2010-2011 state budget.

This program will now be headed by a non-profit organization selected by the Department of Agriculture and Markets.

According to a document released by the state titled "New York State Animal Population Control Program Changes," the new laws will: "Move the remainder of the dog licensing function required by Article 7 of the Agriculture and Markets Law to the level of local government, while at the same time providing additional revenue and resources to assist licensing municipalities with this transition." 

In Huntington, responsibility will fall to Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia. 

Raia said of the new legislation: "In the past, we just acted as the intermediary for the licensing process.  Now, we have to have our computer software changed to accommodate these new laws, develop our own applications, order our own dog tags and develop an entirely new system." 

She expects to have all the necessary changes made a few days after Jan. 1.

The new fees to have a dog licensed are as follows:

New Town Fees:

$8.50 for neutered animal

$18.50 for un-neutered animal

Senior Citizens have a $5 exemption

New York State Animal Population Control Program:

$1 for neutered animal

$3 for un-neutered animal

-Included in the New Town Fees-

Dog shelters, pounds, SPCAs, humane societies and animal protective associations serving under contract as municipal shelters are affected by these new laws as well. 

The state mandate that these organizations license dogs prior to adoption has been removed. 

Among the laws that haven't changed are that all dogs must be licensed, have license tags, and proof of rabies vaccination is required before licensing.