In 2011, municipalities will administer licenses and keep fees.
Christina Yanock, 19, of Fulton, and her cousin Tamsyn Kuehnert, 8, of Shortsville, take a walk with Silvie, a greyhound, at Willow Bay in Onondaga Lake Park on Sunday. New York has announced it is getting out of the dog license administration business in 2011 to save $325,000 a year. Syracuse, NY - New York’s state government will stop administering dog licenses in 2011, which could mean higher fees for some pet owners.
Municipalities, which sell the licenses, will be taking over Jan. 1 the responsibility for renewals, tags and administering a database of licenses. In turn, the municipalities will keep all the fees collected.
Currently, three levels of government share dog license fees – the local municipality gets 53 percent, the county receives 30 percent and the state keeps 17 percent.
Salina Town Supervisor Mark Nicotra said keeping all the money collected for the licenses will be a good thing for the town.
“The state was covering the administration cost,” he said. “We are not sure how much the cost of administration will be and how it will affect our fees,”
Salina currently charges $7 to license a spayed or neutered dog and $15 if the canine is not spayed or neutered. These fees may eventually go up, but the town has not discussed specifics at this time, Nicotra said.
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker announced Friday the state would save more than $325,000 annually by getting out the dog licensing business.
Dog licensing will still be required by state law. But minimum fees for dog licenses and other program requirements will no longer be mandated by the state. Local governments will set fees and tailor dog programs to meet the unique characteristics of their communities.
Today, there are 600,000 dogs licensed in New York, not including New York City. Of those, 80 percent are spayed or neutered with a base fee of $2.50 per license, and 20 percent are unspayed or unneutered with a base fee of $7.50 per license. The cost to license a dog varies depending on additional fees added by each municipality.
The state will also look for another agency to take over its Animal Population and Control Program, which provides low cost spay or neuter surgery for dogs and cats adopted from New York shelters or owned by those from low-income households.
Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298.