Pet owners of King County: Beware.<\/p>\n
The county will be slapping a $75 penalty on all pet owners who have not purchased a license for their pets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe … penalty is aimed at increasing the number of pet owners in unincorporated King County who protect their pets with a license,\u201d a press release from the county read, calling the fee a \u201cproven approach\u201d to getting people to ante up for their animals.<\/p>\n
The county will begin issuing the penalties April 1.<\/p>\n
King County has modeled the penalty after a City of Seattle program that increased pet licensing after the agency instituted licensing fines. Pet owners won\u2019t get hit with the fine if they take the county\u2019s offer to buy a pet license.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who refuse to license their pet after this opportunity will be assessed a $75 penalty,\u201d the county press release reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new penalty will get people\u2019s attention but licensing your pet is really about being a responsible pet owner,\u201d said Carolyn Ableman, Director of the Records and Licensing Services Division. \u201cIt is simply a tool that will increase the chances that you will be reunited with your dog or cat if it get lost by making sure animal control staff have a record of how to reach you. We\u2019re confident that this new penalty will increase the number of pets in unincorporated King County that are reunited with their owner, rather than housed and put up for adoption at the county\u2019s expense.\u201d<\/p>\n
County staff said the license gives pet owners the following services:<\/p>\n
\u2022 The first time a licensed pet is found running loose, the county will attempt to give it a free ride home.<\/p>\n
\u2022 If a licensed pet ends up in a King County shelter, staff will hold it for a longer period and \u201cmake every effort to call or write the owner to inform them that the pet is at the shelter and available for pickup,\u201d the press release reads.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Owners of licensed pets are eligible for the Vacation Pet Alert program. Pet owners can alert the county when they are on vacation and provide the number for their pet\u2019s caretaker so that if their pet gets loose, animal control staff can reach the right person in the owner\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Staff will pick up an owner\u2019s pet from their home at no charge, should the owner need to release it to the county.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The county\u2019s euthanasia service is free.<\/p>\n
In 2009, King County Pet License fees increased for the first time in five years. The fee for a pet license for a spayed or neutered pet is $30 per year. The licensing fee for an unaltered pet is $90 per year and both must be renewed each year. Discounts are available for owners of juvenile pets (under six months of age), and for senior citizens, who are eligible to purchase a license for lifetime of each pet.<\/p>\n
Licenses can be purchased on-line, by mail, and at more than 100 sales outlets in King County\u2019s service area, including many local QFC stores, local veterinarians, city halls, general licensing locations, animal shelters, and King County community service centers.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Learn more<\/p>\n
For a complete list of pet license sales outlets or to purchase a pet license on-line, please visit the King County Animal Care and Control website at www.kingcounty.gov\/pets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pet owners of King County: Beware.
\nThe county will be slapping a $75 penalty on all pet owners who have not purchased a license for their pets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-16495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16495"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16495\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16495"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=16495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}