Why license my dog and how are the fees used?

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Town of Groton

The state fee is $2.50 for a spayed or neutered dog and $10.50 for an unspayed or unneutered dog. In addition to the state fee, any licensing municipality may impose a local fee up to $10.00. The Town of Groton's local fee is $7.50, making the total fee $10.00 for a spayed or neutered dog and $18.00 for an unspayed or unneutered dog. 53% of the state fee is retained by the town for dog control and enforcement; 30% is sent to the county to reimburse livestock owners for dog damage claims; 17% is forwarded to the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets to provide license forms, ID tags, send renewal applications and maintain the centralized database of dog licenses. From the State's share, 10 cents for each license is remitted to Cornell University for dog disease studies. The local fee and any fees for impoundment or fines are retained by the Town and also used for dog control. The Town of Groton has a contract with Country Acres Pet Services for its dog control. Ag and Markets law requires that a municipality use dog monies only for dog services.

Article 7 of the NYS Agriculture and Markets Law requires that any dog harbored within the state for longer than 30 days and is over four months old must be licensed. The Town and Village of Groton also have local laws that require licensing as well as “leash laws.” In addition to being the law, there are real benefits to licensing your dog. Wearing the NYS identification tag assures that your dog will be identified if lost or picked up by the dog control officer.

Before you can license your dog, or renew the license, you must have a valid rabies shot. So the license also acts as a reminder to keep your dog's shots up to date. This is very important with the increase in rabies cases in recent years. Even if you are a conscientious owner who always makes sure these things are taken care of, we can all procrastinate, forget or just be too busy. And if you know your neighbor's dogs are licensed, you know that they also have to have their vaccination up to date and that your pets and children are protected.

If you're still not convinced that your dog should be licensed, perhaps you would rather go back in our history to a place in time when licenses were not required but dog control was still very much an issue:

“Groton, NY Jan. 20th 1908. The Town Board of Health of the Town of Groton met at Town Clerks Office to confer upon the mad dog situation. The quarantine regulations as posted by Commissioner of Agriculture of the State, writing against dogs subject to rabies was made the basis of action. A dog supposed to have had rabies had been killed after biting several animals and its head had been sent to Ithaca for examination. No report had been received from it. After remarks from different members of the Board, the following Resolution was presented. Resolved that we the undersigned members of the Board of Health of the Town of Groton do hereby authorize the Supervisor of said Town to employ some person to kill and bury all dogs running at large in said Town outside the corporate limits of the Village of Groton that are not properly muzzled in accordance with the requirements of the Agricultural Law as prescribed by Commissioner Wieting and that the compensation shall be the sum of One Dollar for each and every dog so killed and buried.”

A notice was then drafted and posted stating that all dogs were to be “secluded in or upon their premises” or “properly muzzled” and prevented from contact with any other animals. The penalty for violating this notice was a sum of one hundred dollars for every violation plus responsibility for any damages and the destruction of the dog. Back in 1908 one hundred dollars was a very large sum of money. The last person that I know of who appeared in the Groton Town Court for harboring an unlicensed dog was fined $15.00 and his dog is still very much alive and probably not even muzzled. I think I'll go with today's laws.

· Identification for your dog