“As a dog owner myself, I know it’s important,” said Karl Keith, Montgomery County Auditor. “If you were to lose your dog, the best way to get the dog home is for it to have a license and be wearing a license.”
MORE: Area K-9s get $6K titanium teeth, and 5 other memorable stories about police dogs in Ohio
For dogs not doing police work, the license fee is $20 for spayed or neutered dogs and $24 for dogs that have not been altered, although there are some exceptions, according to the auditor’s office.
Dog licenses must be renewed annually, unless the owner has a three-year or permanent license, which can only be purchased in-person at the Auditor’s Office.
The licenses are available year-round at the auditor’s office as well as the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center. but through Jan. 31 are also available at many area government centers and vet clinics.
MORE: Fake service dog IDs used to travel with pets
Licenses can also be purchased online by following the links on the auditor’s website. More than a third of the more than 60,000 licenses sold in 2017 were purchased online, according to the auditor’s office.
There are about 20 police dogs serving in various county jurisdictions, said Rob Streck, chief deputy at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
“When there is a burglary, when there is a patient that has dementia and missing … it’s these dogs that are out there day in and day out, no matter what the weather is, tracking this stuff down,” he said. “They are phenomenal for our community.”
Streck said the specialized K9s that can track down suspects, find the wayward and sniff out drugs and bombs require expensive training and care which is cost prohibitive for some departments.
MORE: Dog that can sniff out child porn is newest Ohio BCI agent
“In the K9 world, not every agency can afford to have a dog. They are expensive,” Streck said. “So when you buy a dog, you just don’t go down to the ARC (Animal Resource Center), unfortunately.”
But proceeds from license sales do go to the Animal Resource Center to help care for stray and lost animals until they can be adopted.
How to get a dog license
Ohio law requires dogs over three months of age to be licensed. The deadline for 2018 licenses is Jan. 31.
Cost: Spayed or neutered dog license is $20.00. Unaltered dog licenses are $24.
Licenses can be purchased in five ways:
Online at www.mcohio.org/dogs
By mailing-in an application which can be downloaded at www.mcohio.org/dogs
At the Auditor’s Office in the County Administration Building at 451 W. Third St. in Dayton
At the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center at 6790 Webster St. in Dayton
At nearly 30 stores and other outlets throughout the county
About the Author