It is estimated that less than five percent of dog owners actually purchase a license for their dog, which is meant to be a way of identifying you as its owner. If your dog is injured, the license may help others notify you quickly, possibly saving your dogs life. If an Animal Control Officer rescues your lost dog, the license may be the answer to returning the dog directly to you, therefore saving both you and your dog a trip to the Shelter.

If you are a Chicago dog owner who does not have a license for your dog, you will soon face fines starting at $50 and ranging up to $200. In an effort to raise awareness of the reasons a dog license is required as well as an attempt to license as many dogs as possible, the City Clerk, Susana Mendoza, and the city’s Commission on Animal Care and Control will sponsor a 90-day education campaign that will feature low-cost rabies vaccines at events across the city and an on-line dog registration contest with prizes donated by local businesses.

The first step in purchasing a dog license is to make sure he is up to date on the rabies vaccine. “Dog licensing has not been enforced in the past, so we are looking to make sure that people have plenty of notice before we would take any enforcement measures,” said Cherie Travis, executive director of the Commission on Animal Care and Control. ”We can ticket people, that is part of the plan. At the end of the period of time we give people to get the dog license, if they didn’t obtain it, it’s a ticket that ranges between $50 and $200 for not having [it].”

For years now, pet owners who have not purchased licenses for their dogs have gotten away with it, but the goal in Chicago is to make sure that each and every dog is outfitted with not only the license, but up to date rabies vaccines as well.