NORWALK, Conn. — June is Dog License Renewal Month, so any city resident with a pooch must renew their license before July 1 to avoid a $1 per month late fee.
State law requires all dogs over six months to be licensed in the municipality where they reside and to wear the tag on a collar around their neck.
The fee for licensing an unaltered dog is $19, while licensing a spayed or neutered canine costs $8. Proof of current rabies vaccination is also required to license your dog.
According to Town Clerk Richard McQuaid, it’s been a busy month, as about 1,255 licenses—over one third of the roughly 3,300 licensed dogs in the city coming into June—had already been renewed as of the middle of last week (Wednesday, June 18).
“This year, we really made a big push of sending out postcards to people and letting people [renew] online now,” said McQuaid, adding that the city has also given information about dog license renewals prominent placement on the “News Flash” section of its homepage.
With the increased marketing efforts, McQuaid believes the city could see a total of 4,000 license renewals and new registrations for the first time.
“Seeing the number go up, I am excited about it because I think it’s such a great thing for residents, pet owners, and the city,” he said.
While the number has been going up, McQuaid estimated that only about 75 percent of the dogs in Norwalk are licensed.
“I see people all the time and they say to me, ‘We need a dog license?’” said McQuaid.
While there is a fee of $1 per month (or fraction thereof) for every month after July 1 that a license isn’t renewed, there is also a $1 penalty per month (or fraction thereof) when an owner fails to license a dog after it becomes six months old.
However, McQuaid wants residents to know they will not be penalized if they’ve never previously licensed their pup.
“Say you haven’t registered your dog in the last five years, and you come in and you go, ‘We didn’t know, or we moved’ … We don’t charge you back that five years—we start July 1. Everybody starts with a clean slate,” said McQuaid.
The town clerk encourages residents to license a new dog by U.S. mail, while those looking to renew their license may do so online via the city’s renewal system.
Dog owners may also renew by mail or by using the Town Clerk’s Drop Box located outside of Town Hall.
McQuaid pointed to several scenarios where having your dog licensed could come into play, including if your dog were to get lost or bite someone.
“A lot more people are bringing their dogs to events and everything now, and … if they bite someone or something like that, they always want to find out if the dog had a license,” he said. “When you get a license from us, your rabies and all your shots have to be up to date too, so … instinct is to find out if all the shots and their license and everything is up to date, so that’s come into play.”
If a dog is lost then found, residents who find the dog will often call the town clerk’s office and, based on the information on the dog’s tag, “we are able to tell them who owns the dog, or we will contact the owner and tell them their dog has been found,” said McQuaid.
Property managers are also requiring dogs to be licensed, he added.
“With Norwalk growing the way it is, with all these new condos and buildings, a lot of the people renting are being required by the management companies to license their dogs, which is a really good thing,” said McQuaid. “Doggy daycares also require dogs to now have a license if they’re being boarded.”
While it costs more to register an unaltered pet, McQuaid said that the majority of dogs licensed with the city are spayed or neutered.
If your dog has been spayed or neutered, you must bring documentation from the veterinarian as proof, or check your rabies certificate as it might state that your dog is an “MN” (male neutered) or an “FS” (female spayed), according to the city’s website.
For more information on the license renewal process, including detailed instructions on licensing your dog via U.S. mail, visit here.
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