LAWS ABOUT DOGS 



and considers the calendar year the license 

 year. 



No abatement of the fee is had in case 

 the dofif is sold or disposed of or in case 

 the license is applied for during the cur- 

 rent year. 



Most states provide that a dog need not 

 be licensed under six months of age. 

 Some have a four months age and others 

 as low as three months. Clearly the mini- 

 mum should be six months. 



Dog licenses are not transferable from 

 dog to dog or owner to owner. 



Licenses are issued annually, usually 

 from January first or May first. There is 

 no prorating; one must pay the full year's 

 amount. 



In England the license is by the calen- 

 dar year and can be obtained at any post 

 office. In the U. S., it is obtained from 

 the county or city clerk or township as- 

 sessor. 



An individual tag giving the license 

 number of the dog is furnished without 

 charge. In case of loss, a duplicate may 

 be obtained at a small fee, usually 25 

 cents. 



A city may require inoculation against 

 rabies as a condition of licensing, tho 

 the inoculation need not be done by a 

 veterinarian. 



3. Kennel Licenses 



Kennel licenses can be had in a number 

 of states. These eliminate the necessity of 

 paying individual dog licenses. 



E^ach state should provide for a kennel 

 license. The fees vary; for instance, in 

 Illinois, the fee is $10 for 20 dogs or less 

 and $5 for each additional 20 dogs or 

 fraction thereof. 



E^ach dog must be described as to breed, 

 sex and age. The license can be obtained 

 from the assessor or from the county 

 clerk. An individual tag, however, is 

 furnished for each dog covered by the 

 kennel license. Buffalo for instance, has 

 a city kennel license of $5.00 plus $1.00 

 for each dog listed in the application. 



The following states have kennel licenses 

 — Ck)nn., Del., 111., la.. Ky., Me., Md., 

 Ind., N. Y., Ore., Pa., Va., Wis. Indiana 



for instance has an annual license of $15 



for 5 to 15 dogs ; $25 for 16 or more dogs. 



4. Double Licenses 



The increase in governmental costs and 

 the grasping of officials for further in- 

 come has brot double taxation in the way 

 of double license; and strangely it has 

 been held constitutional. The city can re- 

 quire a city license and the state a state 

 license for the same automobile. 



The state law governs. If the state con- 

 stitution or statutes, in defining the 

 powers of municipalities, provide that it 

 can license a person for the privilege of 

 keeping a dog, then the municipality can 

 so license the dog owner and this license 

 fee must be paid as well as the state fee. 

 However, in the absence of a direct au- 

 thorization by the state, a county, city 

 or township in the state cannot demand 

 a license payment. 



5. Sales Tax 



Where a person or breeder holds himself 

 out publicly as a kennel owner or dog 

 breeder, offering dogs for sale thru signs, 

 advertising, printed stationery, etc., 

 whether he does this as his means of live- 

 lihood or not, the sales tax must be paid 

 if there is provision for a general sales 

 tax. A rare, occasional sale would not 

 classify one as in business and would not 

 require the payment of the tax. 



It does not apply on services rendered 

 for grooming, medical attention and board- 

 ing, nor on sales of dogs shipped outside 

 the state. 



6. Personal Property Tax 



It must be understood clearly that a tax 

 on the dog as personal property is entirely 

 separate from a license fee required to be 

 paid by the dog owner. A dog can be 

 taxed as property as is an automobile, a 

 piece of furniture or machine. 



That the dog is unlicensed does not 

 eliminate the necessity of paying a per- 

 sonal property tax. 



7. Income Tax 



Where one carries on the breeding and 

 showing of dogs as a business, large or 

 small, major or incidental, gross income 

 and expenditures must be included in the 

 income tax report. See 5 (Sales Tax) also. 



D — Justifiable Killing of Dogs 



The police powers of a state (not to be 

 confused with the police) are justified 

 upon the basis of public welfare. Thru 

 these powers, the taking of private prop- 

 erty without compensation and the setting 

 aside of what ordinarily would be the law, 

 is done. 



1. Dog Pound 



The maintenance of a dog pound is op- 

 tional. Cities and districts may operate 

 dog pounds for the purpose of impounding 

 or holding dogs that have been picked up 

 and are held awaiting reclaiming by the 

 owners. 



Even where there is no specific provision 

 in thp charter, the police powers give this 

 right to a governmental unit. See City 

 of Hagerstown vs. Witmer, 37 Atlantic 

 (Md.) 965. Other state supreme court 

 cases confirming this viewpoint are People 

 vs. Police Board (N. Y.) 24 How. Pr. 481 ; 

 Stebbins vs. Mayer (Kan.) 16 Pac 745. 



Authority to regulate the keeping of 

 dogs with penalty of destrojnng them is 

 set forth in various decisions such as Hub- 

 bard vs. Preston l(Mich.). 51 N.W. 209; 

 15 L.R.A. 249, Blair vs. Forehand, 100 

 Mass. 136. 



There has been a decision in the U. S. 

 Supreme Court on these matters also — 

 Sentell v. Railroad Company, 17 Sup. Ct, 

 698, which is as follows: 



"It is practically impossible by statute 

 to distinguish between valuable and worth- 

 less dogs, and acting upon the principle 

 that there is but a qualified property in 

 them, and that while private interests may 

 require that the valuable one shall be pro- 

 tected, public interest demands that the 

 worthless shall be exterminated, they have, 

 from time immemorial, been considered as 

 their lives at the will of the legislature, 

 and properly falling withia the police 

 powers of the several states.** 



