ASHEVILLE – Today’s burning question is about a city ordinance that requires dog owners to license their pet every year. Have a question for Answer Man or Answer Woman? Email Executive Editor Karen Chávez at [email protected] and your question may appear in an upcoming column.
Question: Are dog license fees still valid and enforced in Buncombe? Despite having a dog for several years, I only recently heard about the required licenses and fees. In most counties and cities in North Carolina, registration is concurrent with rabies vaccination, and I wonder why this policy would still be in effect when it is not seen as a known policy among county dog owners or enforced .
Answer: The county has no annual license fee required of dog owners. But the city does.
Per city ordinance, all dogs in Asheville must be licensed annually by January 1 for a whopping $10. If you don’t know about it, it looks like you’re not alone.
City spokeswoman Kim Miller said the city does not view this as a “punitive program.”
“We are not out frisking Fido for a tag,” he said. But licensing is “one of the best ways to ensure that a lost pet finds its way home.”
“When your pet shows a current license on its collar, Animal Control officers can easily determine if your pet has a current rabies vaccination, eliminating health and safety questions for residents ,” Miller said. “The current license also allows Animal Control agencies to quickly find owner information and return a lost pet – saving you and your pet a trip to the shelter.”
All dogs must have a city license by the age of 6 months. Licensing and re-licensing is done through a pet registration provider, PetData Inc.
How much money do dog licenses bring?
A quick look at the license revenues, obtained by the Citizen Times through a public records request, seems suspiciously low, and declining every year. License fees were cited as a line item in the Animal Services budget, which was moved from under the Asheville Police Department and into the Development Services Department in October 2020, as part of the city’s reimagining public safety effort.
At $10 a dog, the $19,930 “license and permits, dogs” budget line means there are only 1,993 dogs for Asheville’s nearly 95,000 residents, or 38,000 households. It seems low. Especially when any weekend visit to a brewery, like a sunny Sunday trip to Zillicoah, for example, will find three dogs per picnic table, as a general rule.
The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 44.6% of US households own dogs, according to 2022 data.
But as Miller noted, the ordinance is “something to be taken advantage of, not something to be broken.”
License revenues, per fiscal year:
- 2023: $19,930
- 2022: $24,415
- 2021: $28,870
- 2020: $31,295
- 2019: $30,905
- 2018: $33,660
- 2017: $35,968
What else do local ordinances require of pet owners?
The Buncombe County Animal Shelter has an Asheville City ordinance posted on its animal admitting door, said Asheville Humane Society spokeswoman Mabel Lujan.
But he added, “because we don’t enforce, we don’t handle anything related to dog licensing.”
Buncombe County spokeswoman Kassi Day said that although the county does not require an annual license fee, rabies vaccinations are required for dogs, cats and ferrets. Both Buncombe and Asheville have leash laws, requiring dogs to be on a leash and under the owner’s control while in a county park or recreation facility.
Per Asheville ordinance, the city’s license tag, and a current rabies tag, must be displayed on the dog at all times. In lieu of a civil penalty, a person cited under this section may register their dog with the city within 15 days of the issuance of the citation and the civil penalty will lapse.
Information about the licensing program, application links and the ordinance guide are available on the city of Asheville’s homepage under the “services” tab. As animal control staff respond to calls for service, they check for proper licensing of the animal in question or animals on a property, Miller said.
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email [email protected] or message on Twitter @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a Citizen Times subscription.
