Why License Your Dog?
There is one exceptionally good reason for licensing your dog. If your animal is missing, the dog warden can quickly notify you your pet has been found. That way you can quickly claim him.
Section 955.12 of the Ohio Revised Code allows the county to hold a licensed dog for up to 14 days, after mailing a notice of its capture to the owner, before allowing it to be either sold or destroyed (if a dog is unlicensed, the Law allows it to be either destroyed or sold after being held for only three days).
Dog Tags may Be Issued by . . .
Service Dogs Are
Permanently Registered
Service dogs (guide,leader and support animals) must also be licensed, but their fee is waived.
Once they are registered with the county, they are
permanently licensed by receiving a special tag.
Licensing Your Dog Is Easy and Inexpensive
If you own a dog that is over three months of age, stop by your County Auditor's Office between December 1 and the following January 31 st Simply fill out the brief registration form and pay the annual fee per dog or kennel.
Each dog receives a distinctive tag number (dog kennels receive five consecutively numbered tags).
Once your dog has been assigned a license, the license number and the information about him is permanently filed in the county's records.
If you obtain a dog after January 31, the Law requires its registration (Ohio Revised Code Section 955.01) within 30 days of your becoming the owner. The late registration fee is double the original license fee.
Ensure That Your Dog Stays Home
Ohio Law requires all dog owners keeping their animals "either physically confined or restrained upon the premises of the owner ... by a leash, tether, adequate fence,
supervision, or secure enclosure to prevent escape,
or under reasonable control of some person, except when the
dog is lawfully engaged in hunting accompanied by the owner ... or a handler." (Ohio
Revised Code 955.22)
A License Helps Keep Your Pet Safe
Unless a dog is confined in a registered kennel, he must wear his license (tag) at all times.
If he is not wearing his tag he is subject to
impounding, sale or destruction (Ohio
Revised Code 955.10).
If your dog is impounded because he was not
wearing his license and is not redeemed within
three days, the dog warden may either have
him humanely destroyed or sell him to any
nonprofit Ohio institution or organization that
is certified to engage in either teaching or
researching the prevention of diseases of
human beings or animals, or he may be
donated to any nonprofit special agency
engaged in training service dogs (Ohio
Revised Code 955.16).
If Your Dog's Tag Is Lost . . .
Simply provide your County Auditor with
proof of its loss and a duplicate tag will be
issued for a 25¢.
To Claim Your Dog
If He's Been Impounded . . .
You need to go to your local pound (or in some counties, the Humane Society is authorized to act as the county's dog warden) and pay the costs the county incurred for impounding and housmg your dog. If your dog was not licensed when picked up, you must also purchase a registration tag before taking him home.
Your Dog Warden's Duties
Chapter 955 of the Ohio Revised Code lists the county dog warden's duties. They include:
Dog wardens and deputies have "the same police powers as are conferred upon sheriffs and police officers in the performance of their duties . . ." (Ohio Revised Code 955.12).
Section 955.24 also sates "No person shall obstruct or interfere with anyone lawfully engaged in capturing an unregistered dog or making an examination of a dog wearing a tag."
Definition of "Kennel Owner"
According to the Ohio Revised Code, Section
955.02, a kennel owner is a "person, partnership, firm, company, or corporation professionally engaged in the business of breeding dogs for hunting or sale." When a person breeds dogs avowedly as a hobby, "but permits sales to become such a factor that he advertises for sale" the breeding activity and dogs, that person "is professionally engaged in the business of dog breeding" and should be registered as a kennel. The term "kennel" means any pack or collection of dogs, over the age of three months, kept together for the purposes of hunting or for sale. (Ohio Revised Code 955.04)
If Your Dog Moves To A New Home
The new owner is required to record the ownership change with the County Auditor. They must present a transfer of ownership certificate, signed by the former owner, and pay the 25¢ fee.
Ensure That Your Dog Stays Healthy
By the time your dog is three to four months old, it should be immunized against rabies and other communicable diseases. Depending on which vaccine your veterinarian uses, your dog will need booster shots everyone or three years.
For More Information About
Licensing Your Dog, Call Either