§ 10-303. LICENSING OF DOGS.

(a) The owner or custodian of any dog over the age of four months shall procure a city dog license and pay therefor the license fee designated in the Master Fee Resolution. The license fee shall be due and payable on or before the expiration of the vaccination against rabies. Any person failing to procure and pay for such license prior to the expiration of the vaccination shall pay the penalty for such delinquency as designated in the Master Fee Resolution. With respect to dogs first brought into the city, no penalty shall be payable if the owner or custodian procures a license within thirty days after the dog is brought into the city, or within thirty days after the dog reaches the age of four months, as the case may be.

(1) Every person owning a guide, signal or service dog shall be exempt from the license fee payment requirement of this section. Upon application to the Controller and presentation of a vaccination certificate as prescribed by the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, every owner of a guide dog shall receive, at no charge, a dog license.

(2) Before a city dog license may be issued for the lower license fee for a dog which has been spayed or neutered, the owner or custodian of such dog shall provide evidence that the dog has been spayed or neutered. Such evidence shall be a certificate signed by a doctor of veterinary medicine, on his or her letterhead stationery or on a form provided by the city for such purpose, or by the sworn statement of the owner or custodian on a form provided by the city. Any such form or certificate shall state the name of the doctor of veterinary medicine who performed the operation or the name of the clinic where such operation was performed, the street address of such doctor of veterinary medicine or clinic, the telephone number thereof if available, the precise or approximate date when the operation was performed, and a sufficient description of the dog.

(3) The Council finds that persons over age 62 have special needs for dogs to provide warning of or protection from forcible or surreptitious entry into their homes; and that it is therefore in the public interest to encourage dog ownership for warning and protection purposes among this class of city residents by reduced dog license rates. To qualify for the reduced rates authorized by this subsection the owner or custodian over age 62 of any dog shall execute, prior to issuance of a dog license at such reduced rate, a declaration under penalty of perjury on a form provided by the Controller, containing the following:

(i) The name, place of residence, and age of the applicant;

(ii) A statement that the dog for which reduced-rate licensing is sought is permanently housed at applicant's place of residence, and that the applicant is the owner or permanent custodian of the dog (if custodian only, the name of the owner shall be given);

(iii) A statement that the applicant or the applicant's spouse owns, rents, or otherwise has the exclusive right to possession of such premises or such place of residence; and

(iv) A statement that no adult person under age 62, other than the applicant's spouse, housekeeper, or nurse, who may be under age 62, regularly resides with the applicant at such place of residence.

(b) All dog licenses shall be issued for a period terminating on or before the expiration of the rabies vaccination. The Controller, in order to ensure payment or facilitate collection of dog license fees, may require the renewal of a license for other than the time periods specified herein.

(c) The amount of such license fee shall be paid to the Controller, and upon the payment thereof, there shall be issued to the person making such payment a dog tag in a form as prescribed by the Controller; provided that the owner or custodian of the dog shall have the dog vaccinated and shall present, and the Controller shall issue a dog license only after presentation of, a vaccination certificate signed by a licensed veterinarian. The vaccination certificate need not be presented whenever the dog has a condition or illness which renders it unfit to be vaccinated, and this is proved to the satisfaction of the Controller, who must require written proof thereof to be made by a licensed veterinarian upon a form approved by the Controller.

(d) The Controller shall honor a dog license issued by authority of another government and shall issue a City of Fresno dog license for the nominal fee designated in the Master Fee Resolution, when the following facts exist:

(1) The dog license to be honored is current and effective and this fact is established by proof of a dog license tag, certificate or receipt of the other government which shows the period for which the license is issued.

(2) The dog has been vaccinated against rabies and this fact is established by the presentation of a vaccination certificate signed by a doctor of veterinary medicine or a dog license tag, receipt or certificate which on its face establishes the date and type of vaccination.

(3) The request to so honor the license is made within thirty days after the dog is brought into the city.

(4) The dog owner or custodian pays the license fee designated in the Master Fee Resolution for the issuance of a City of Fresno dog license under these conditions.

(e) It shall be the duty of the Controller to enter in a register kept by him for that purpose the name and address of the owners or custodians of all dogs licensed, and the description of such dogs, the number of the tag, and the date of its issuance. A similar register for all operators of kennels shall also be kept by the Controller.

(f) The dog license tag issued to any person upon the payment of the license fee herein provided for shall be securely attached to a collar or harness on such dog. The poundmaster shall impound any dog not bearing a Fresno city dog license tag. (Orig. Ord. 3755; Am. Ord. 5005, 1957; Am. Ord. 5308, 1958; Rep. and Added Ord. 5757, 1960; Am. Ord. 6443, 1964; Am. Ord. 6593, 1965; Am. Ord. 6888, 1966; Am. Ord. 68-94, 1968; Am. Ord. 71-87, 1971; Am. Ord. 71-97, 1971; Am. Ord. 74-50, § 1, eff. 7-1-74; Am. Ord. 78-64, § 1, eff. 7-1-78; Am. Ord. 80-115, §§ 91, 92, eff. 8-8-80; Am. Ord. 88-61, § 3, eff. 5-27-88; Am. Ord. 99-40, § 2, eff. 7-30-99).