(A) Certificate of registration.
(1) Every person who is or has been a resident of the county for 30 days or more, and who is the owner of any dog or cat four months or more of age, shall cause such dog or cat to be registered and shall pay an annual fee for such animal provided, however, that no registration fee shall be charged for lead dogs for the blind.
(2) The one year registration fee shall be $4 per animal and the three-year registration fee shall be $9 per animal. The registration fees shall be levied by the Supervisor-Animal Control Officer.
(B) Fee deadline. The registration fee for individual dogs and cats shall be paid within 20 days of the date said animals are inoculated against rabies, being a $4 fee in the case of a one-year inoculation and a $9 fee in the case of a three-year vaccination.
(C) Collection of registration fees by local licensed veterinarians.
(1) Local licensed veterinarians shall be requested by the Supervisor-Animal Control Officer to collect the registration fees set forth herein and the veterinarians shall remit said collected fees to the Treasurer’s office on a quarterly basis.
(2) Failure to collect the correct registration fee and submit same to the Treasurer on a quarterly basis shall result in no further issuance of inoculation tags distributed to any non-compliant licensed veterinarian by the Supervisor-Animal Control Officer.
(D) Failure to register. When an owner fails to register his or her dog or cat as prescribed herein, the Supervisor-Animal Control Officer, or other employees of the Animal Control Department, shall cause the registration fees to be collected from the dog owner, plus an additional late fee of $6 per animal.
(E) Registration forms. The Administrator shall provide licensed veterinarians with appropriate registration forms which shall be distributed to dog and cat owners by such licensed veterinarians upon the occasion of the rabies inoculation (vaccination) required by the Animal Control Act and this chapter. The veterinarians shall send completed inoculation forms to the Administrator as soon as practicable, preferably monthly.
(F) Remittance of fees; Animal Control Fund; use of Fund.
(1) All registration fees collected shall be remitted to the Treasurer who shall place such monies in an Animal Control Fund.
(2) This fund is to be set up for the purpose of paying costs of the Animal Control Program and for the purpose of paying claims for loss of livestock or poultry as set forth in § 19 of the Animal Control Act, 510 ILCS 5/19, and shall be used for paying the cost of stray dog and cat control, impoundment, education on animal control and rabies and other costs incurred in carrying out the provisions of this chapter and the Animal Control Act.
(Ord. 2001-01, passed 6-19-2001) Penalty, see § 91.99