OAKLAND — More than 50 town residents are on the hook so far this spring for what might seem like an unlikely charge: failure to license a pet dog.
Every spring for at least five years, Animal Control Officer Patrick Faucher has led a crackdown on residents who have avoided paying the small fee to license their animal.
Many are in disbelief when they finally get the summons, Faucher said.
“I’m sure it would be an embarrassment to some people to have an officer show up at your door,” Faucher said. “I know it would be for me.”
State law requires that dog owners license their pets every year with their town office or licensing agent, mainly to protect public health and safety. In order to receive a license, an owner has to show proof that the dog has been immunized against rabies. Licensing a dog capable of producing young costs $11. Licensing a spayed or neutered dog costs $6.
If owners don’t meet the Jan. 31 deadline for taking care of their animals, they are charged a $25 late fee and enforcement begins.
So far this year, Faucher has written 52 court summons for people who haven’t renewed their pet license. He thinks all of the 1,200 or so dog owners in town this year will eventually be licensed because of enforcement.
Other towns and cities don’t take enforcement as seriously as Oakland does, Faucher added, and the Maine Animal Control Association is trying to get state authorities to prod municipalities into stronger enforcement.
Chris Martinez, animal control officer for Waterville, Winslow and Sidney, said 300 to 400 cases of unlicensed dogs from each town are referred to him every year. That doesn’t include the number of dogs that don’t show up in the system because they never have been licensed or immunized, or the number of people he has to remind to license a new dog after it is immunized by a veterinarian, Martinez added.
The most common excuse he gets from people is that the municipality never reminded them that a license is due to expire, Martinez said, but officials aren’t required to inform people that their licenses are lapsing, he added.
In Waterville, Martinez ends up filing about 20 summonses, after spending months issuing warnings and getting people to come in and license their dogs.
“Wow, they’re really on top of it down there,” he said, when told about the number of summonses Oakland was issuing.
Every year, Martinez gets a list of violators from each town. The year starts with sending postcards to remind people their licenses have lapsed, hoping that most would relicense their dogs without more enforcement.
With the exception of Winthrop, where he is also animal control officer, most towns where he works don’t push hard for enforcement, Martinez said.
“As for the other towns, it’s mostly up to me,” he said. “They don’t monitor it; let’s put it that way.”
Animal Control Officer David Huff, who works in 10 towns, including Fairfield, Clinton and Norridgewock, said his communities mostly address unlicensed dogs, but it can be hard to track down delinquents.
“We do our best to try and catch them,” he said.
So far this year, he has served 20 summonses for unlicensed dogs and has more cases pending, Huff said.
Court action is the town’s last resort, Faucher said. Enforcement starts with a 14-day warning after the January deadline passes, but the town works with dog owners long after that to get animals licensed. By the time the town starts issuing summonses, owners have had six months to comply, Faucher said.
“We’ve bent over backwards to try and work with people,” Faucher said. “People have hardships; we understand that.”
There are always some holdouts who haven’t followed the law. People may have been out of state, had an illness, been unable to afford the fee or just forgotten the license was due, Faucher said. After he issues a court summons, almost all settle up without the need to take the case to court, according to Faucher.
“Probably 90 percent will come in advance of their court date,” he said.
The town began cracking down hard on unlicensed dogs five years ago. In the first few years, Faucher was issuing hundreds of summonses, but numbers have gone down since then.
“It’s an education thing,” Faucher said. “It’s surprising how many people don’t know how important it is.”
Oakland uses the fines to fund a free rabies clinic every December, with help from the Oakland Lions Club. Last year, 134 dogs were given a three-year vaccination at the clinic, according to Faucher.
Rabies is a ever-present threat in the state. In late April, Fairfield issued an alert after three raccoons tested positive for rabies. Rabies is transmitted by a virus and affects the central nervous system. If untreated, it is nearly always fatal in humans.
Peter McGuire — 861-9239
pmcguire@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire
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