Dog Licenses - Maricopa County

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by YAZ

This is what happens:

Let's say you go to one of the "big name" pet stores where one stop shopping is all the rage. You'll get your dog vaccinated and they report to the county.

Based on what I heard from a vet, my understanding is it's standard protocol that after a rabies vaccine is given, it's reported to the county. I think the big question is.....how often does the county follow-up to connect the dots if said dog is licensed or not? That has to be a huge undertaking in resources, mailing costs alone to follow-up with people who's dog is not on record as being licensed.

[pebzinphx]

I agree with the license to but with those on a fixed monthly income shouldn't be penalties fees cause some can't afford to do all at once and as far as strays go and owner turn in if they don't pass assessment they are put on the kill list which is bull cause pit Bulls are euthanize daily for not passing like example if they don't like toes pinched they won't pass or if they are. Scared they don't pass if a volunteer put two dogs in kennel together and they fight they both euthanize when it the volunteers fault

[pebzinphx]

Will I get penalties for not registering my dogs tbey both five I always got there shots but until recently I didn't know it was a law I thought the tag from vet was what they were supposed to have

[luv2grow]

I came from NC where a visit to the vet whether one dog or four, the office visit cost the same. So every year we would have our dogs vaccinated and every three years their rabies shot. The vet office in NC would hand us a receipt with the tags taped to the bill receipt. The cost $10 for one year or $25 for 3 years per dog.

Here in Maricopa County, AZ the vets here charge per dog for the office visit and up charge for each vaccination. So if you have more than one dog the cost becomes quite expensive to vaccinate. So I found that PetCo & Petsmart have vaccination clinics every week where they charge only for the vaccinations. This for us was a major money saver.

Since finding the exorbitant cost Vets charge to have a dog vaccinated, I always had my pets vaccinated at the clinics. I was under the impression that they were automatically registered as I never received notification from Animal Control. However, the end of 2016, since my dog was being seen by a vet anyways, I went ahead and had his Rabies shot done by the vet. I did think it was strange I didn't receive a tag like in NC but it quickly slipped my mind and gave it no further thought.

Yesterday, I received a late notice and penalty that I failed to register my dog. Apparently the vet office had to report that my dog had its rabies shot. The fault of the vet office was failure to notify me that I had to register my dog and give information or paper work to do so. Being new to the area, I assumed it was like NC where it was done at the time one has the pet vaccinated.

The fee per year to register my dog in Maricopa County AZ is $42 and my penalty is $12 totalling $54. No wonder people don't register their pets. If AZ made registering your dog per the vet office and didn't charge such an exorbitant amount, majority of the dogs would be registered. Animal Control website is absolutely worthless in trying to find out the costs involved.

When we moved here to AZ our dogs were old and all have passed except one. Our housebound toothless 4LB dog has a collaspable trachea so wearing a collar and tag is out of the question so the Animal Control claimed benefit of the tag is absolutely worthless in our case.

If I knew this was going to be such a costly hassle, I should have had my dog vaccinated at the clinics since we are moving in a couple of months out of the state.

Again, if AZ wants people to register their dogs, they should make it affordable for all. On the Animal Control website they should also list the cost and state that the vet offices do not register their dogs at the time of vaccination. Their website is very poorly written and had I known this information, I would have registered my dog sooner instead of thinking the $90 I paid at the vet office for the rabies shot, paperwork, and office visit didn't include the license. For us, it would have been cheaper at the clinic as they only charge for the shot which is very reasonable.

Also an unrelated remark, vets here in AZ are very expensive and charges for even teeth cleaning is ridiculous. One of our elderly dogs teeth cleaning bill was over $1,200 and the others were over $600 each. We had to drive to California for their second teeth cleaning and with all the work including a few extractions, the cost was $295 each which was comparable to what we paid in NC. And one dog we rushed to an after hour emergency clinic...they ripped us by charging over $8,000 for a stone removal where another dog few months later at the vet's office charged us $2,700 to have a stone removed. No better vets than NC and CA, so I can't understand why AZ vets are so expensive. Since moving to AZ the medical costs of taking care of our dogs has put such a financial strain on us. When our dog passes, we will not adopt one in AZ. If we do decide to adopt a dog it will be in another state were registering and vet bills are not ridiculously high.

[Bungle]

Sounds like you didn't do you homework before moving here. When I became a dog owner in AZ all i had to do was google 'register my dog in maricopa' and ended up finding all of the info I needed to know.

[ScottsdaleMark]

I'm sorry keeping your animals alive and clean-toothed has proven to be expensive. It sounds like you should call around / shop around in the future regarding prices for vet services, perhaps.

Regarding the tags ... is it really that much of a problem that they charge $42 instead of $10 to register a dog? How many dogs do you have?

[ElleTea]

I take my dogs here for shots. It's a walk in clinic, but no office visit fee and the shots are lower cost. The people there are wonderful. They also do heartworm tests, microchips, and dental. Dogs and cats.


Clinic - Home Fur Good

[luv2grow]

Regarding the tags ... is it really that much of a problem that they charge $42 instead of $10 to register a dog? How many dogs do you have?[/quote]

In NC we rescued 6 dogs and one cat. They have since passed due to medical complications and old age. We are currently tending to the needs of the last remaining dog. Due to the financial strain it has cost us, we can no longer take in any more dogs in AZ.

Statistics says it all. In NC where you get your dog a rabies shot and is registered at the same time for a low fee of $10 for one year and $25 for three years has the lowest incident of unregistered dogs as compared to AZ that charges $42 for intact and $17 for sterile ("There are about 338,600 licensed dogs in the county, according to data from Maricopa County Animal Care and Control"). in 2016 estimated population for Maricopa County is approximately 4.5 million people so if 65% own a pet then 2.9 million pets should be registered.

65% for 1+ pets nationally per household
Pet 2016-2017 APPA Survey (Humane Society of the United States)

[sargeant79]

I'm a definite dog lover and have had dogs my whole life, both growing up and on my own as an adult. This conversation reminds me of something my mom told me when I was about 20 years old...

I was considering getting my first dog all on my own and was asking about the cost of some things. She said to me, "You know son, dogs cost money just like a kid does. It's a lifelong commitment and if you're questioning whether you can afford things like vet care, you should probably ask yourself whether you should really be getting a dog right now."

She was right. I held off a few years and didn't get my first dog until I was 24 and in a little bit better financial shape. I understand that people want to get a dog, but it really is a life you're taking on responsibility for. People need to make sure they can afford to care for the dog properly, including proper medical care, proper training, and proper socialization and activities. The fact that people often fail to think those things through is one of the main reasons why there are so many dogs in shelters and why we hear about animal neglect cases all the time. I don't know the situations of the folks who posted here and of course we all have different sets of financial means. However, it just seems to me that if the difference between $40 and $10 for license or vaccines or whatever it was is going to make or break the bank, it may be time to question whether pet ownership is really the right thing for that individual.

[antoinettebailey35]

Do i have to bring my dog with me to register as a service dog