The Found Animals team recommends that pets wear three forms of identification at all times – an engraved ID Tag, a pet license, and a microchip. These three pet ID tools (with current information, of course) will maximize the chances that your pet will be safely returned to you in the event you are separated by unfortunate circumstances such as a broken yard gate or a natural disaster.

While most pet owners are very familiar with engraved ID tags and microchips, many don’t understand the importance of a pet license. A license is an ID tag engraved with a unique number and issued by your local government. Licenses originated as a way to prove that a pet had received its rabies vaccination back when human rabies cases were a major public health issue. Today rabies has been nearly eradicated from humans and pets in the United States thanks to vaccination, but licenses are still very important.

In addition to proving that your pet has a rabies vaccine, a license is a great insurance policy if your pet gets lost. A license tag on your dog or cat’s collar lets a shelter or animal control officer know that your lost pet has a home that wants them back, and connects them to your contact information.

Could this be your dog? If he had a license he would be home by now.

As an added bonus, licensing your pet can also help other pets in your community. In Los Angeles and many other cities a portion of the dog license fees are set aside to support low cost and free spay and neuter surgery for the pets of low income owners. For an altered (sterilized) dog in Los Angeles the cost of a one year license is just $20 and $7 (35%), of that money goes into the spay neuter fund.

Unfortunately, less than one third of the 350,000-500,000 dogs in the city of Los Angeles are currently licensed. Doubling the number of licenses sold would raise an additional $680,000 for spay neuter funds each year, enough to pay for an additional 10,000 surgeries for low income pet owners.

Please license you pet today! Its good for you and your pet and its good for our community.

Use our handy license information lookup tool to find your local licensing location in the Los Angeles area. . . .and stay tuned for more information about licensing in a post next week.

Have more questions about Licensing? Leave us a comment below and that will help us cover more Frequently Asked Questions in our next blog.

dog care    pet identification