City to Dog and Cat Owners: License Your Pet — or Else!

‘It’s about the safety of our pets, and of the community.’

The city of Sacramento, CA, is getting strict about its licensing requirements for dogs and cats.

Owners who don’t comply will face fines of $300 or, for repeat offenders, $500, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The city will issue warnings as a first step. The $300 fine will be issued only if pet owners fail to heed two warnings. Even then, it’s “correctable” — the fine is canceled if the owner gets the license within a month.

The Bee explains that a one-year registration for a dog or cat “costs $20 for a neutered or spayed animal and requires proof of rabies vaccination.”

The law has been on the books for many years, but hasn’t been enforced consistently.

The new enforcement campaign is geared toward raising the city’s 13 percent licensing rate for pets.

Gina Knepp, manager of the Front Street Shelter, told the Bee, “It’s about the safety of our pets, and of the community.”

Read more at the Sacramento Bee