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Animal Licensing Facts . . .

  • Licensing your dog or cat is required by law.
  • Your animal must be current on his/her rabies vaccinations in order to obtain a license.
  • All of the jurisdictions listed below have reduced rate licensing fees for spayed or neutered animals.  
  • There are various low-cost resources available for spay/neuter as well as rabies vaccination clinics. 
  • Licensing fees include a sturdy and durable tag to attach to your animal's collar to show proof of licensing and as a form of identification.

Benefits of Pet Licensing in Sacramento County . . .

  • A license is your lost pet’s ticket home.  An animal control officer will try to contact you from your pet’s license information before bringing him/her to the shelter.
  • If the shelter is successful at bringing your pet home before it has to go to the shelter, you will be spared the $40 impound fee and daily board fees.
  • Your pet will be held at the shelter for 10 days instead of 3 days if wearing a license
  • If your licensed pet is injured, the shelter will attempt to contact your personal vet if possible.
  • $15 is the total cost for an unaltered license, which includes the visible license tag your dog wears affixed to his/her collar.
  • At the sad time your licensed pet dies or is in need of final arrangements, the shelter can assist you with free or low cost services
  • Your license fees go toward the direct support of the shelter, which takes in approximately 15,000 animals each year, conducts abuse and neglect investigations, offers low cost spay/neuter programs, etc.

Animal Licensing Locations . . .

Animal licenses are available on line at the links below: 
  • Sacramento County Animal Licensing on line 
  • Sacramento City Animal Licensing on line  
  • City of Elk Grove Animal License application on line
  • City of Rancho Cordova Animal License application on line

For complete contact information of various local animal control facilities, Click Here

Important Information About Microchips and Traditional I.D. Tags . . .

Each Form of I.D. Has Its Own Advantages:

  • Microchips are considered by both the AVMA and AAHA to be an extremely safe and effective way to permanently identify your companion animal. 
  • Microchips can be life-saving should your dog or cat get lost and end up at an animal shelter.  
  • All animal shelters and most veterinary clinics have microchip scanners that are used to read themicrochip information.  
  • Another positive of microchips is they can't come off or be taken off like collars and tags. 
  • One more benefit to having your dog or cat microchipped is that the microchip can be used to prove whothe rightful owner is should there ever be an ownership dispute. 
  • Visible I.D. tags in addition to microchipping are also very important.  
  • One of the positives of wearing an I.D. tag is that it often times will result in getting an animal back tothe owner when the animal is still close to home and before he/she ever ends up at a shelter. 
  • Also, many of the same people who will stop to help a lost pet wearing an I.D. tag will not do so if that same pet is not wearing readily visible identification because the lack of an I.D. tag makes it clear to the person that they will not be able to immediately call the owner in order to get the lost animal home.
  • Another benefit to your animal having a microchip and/or visible identification tag is that by law animal shelters are required to keep animals which enter the shelter with identification longer than they would otherwise be required to keep them.

Proof-Positive Results that Licensing Saves Lives . . .

 Calgary, Alberta, Canada is proof-positive of what happens when 90% of the dog population is licensed:
  • About one million people reside in Calgary
  • 90% of dogs licensed 
  • 97% save rate of dogs
  • 89% dogs returned to owner 
  • 85% dogs returned to owner within 24 hours
To read the whole story on the ASPCA web site, click here

Dog Leashes . . .

We think leather leashes feel so much better on your hands and are also easier to grip, so your chances of dropping the leash or having it pulled out of your hands (and hurting your hands) are reduced. 
 
Leather leashes are available at most pet supply stores, but the best ones we've ever found were from Diamond Dogs.  They are custom-made, reasonably-priced, soft leather leashes.  Once they get one, most people say they'll never use another leash.  

Dog Collars . . .

For strength, dependability and durability, we like to use rolled leather (buckle) collars.  We've found that traditional buckle collars are much less likely to break or come off than the collars with the plastic quick-release attachments.  These rolled leather collars are available at many pet supply stores, including PetCo and PetSmart.
 
We do not recommend the use of choke, shock or prong collars.  We believe head halters such as the Gentle Leader are a more effective and humane option than chokes and prongs for those having difficulty getting their dog to walk well on leash.  You can also consult our Behavior and Training Resources page to contact a trainer for help with this issue, and you can obtain some Leash Walking Tips here. 
 
Warning:  Though we don't recommend the use of choke chain (aka slip) collars for the reasons stated above, if you do use one, you should never leave this type of collar on your dog.  I regret to say that I have lost count of how many dogs I have heard of choking to death as a result of this type of collar getting caught on another dog while playing or on fences or other obstacles.

I.D. Tags . . .

  • PetCo, PetsMart and Pet Club all have I.D. tag machines where you can make instant engraved tags for about $7.00, or you can order an engraved I.D. tag on line.  Three web sites which sell engraved I.D. tags are Chili Dog Tags and Pet ID Tags and Go Tags.
  • Individuals and Rescue Groups can order instant ID Jiffy Tags for 40 cents a tag from B Elegant by calling (800)-9BELEGANT or 818-241-0260. 
 

 
  • There are also collars available with phone numbers embroidered right on the collar itself, sold by companies such as Go Tags and DogIDCollar.  Just make sure you don't have a dog with so much fur that it would cover the phone number on the collar prior to choosing this option. 
  • When you get your dog licensed (which locally is around $15 for an altered animal), a sturdy and durable licence tag which you attach to your animal's collar automatically comes with the licensing fee. 
 
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