(a) Any owner of dogs or cats within the urban county shall apply to the designated license facility for the appropriate license. Proof of licensure shall be evidenced by a license tag issued by the designated license facility. Licenses shall be required for each dog or cat six (6) months of age or older and rabies vaccination shall be required for each dog or cat four (4) months of age or older. Individual dog and cat licenses shall be renewed each year on or before the last day of the month in which the animal's license was issued. License and rabies tags shall be firmly attached to a harness or collar worn by the animal at all times. If a dog or cat is found not to be wearing its license or rabies tag, the owner may prove that the dog or cat is properly vaccinated and licensed by producing a certificate of licensure and evidence of inoculation or by purchasing a vaccination voucher. Animals kept temporarily (not in excess of thirty (30) days) for the purpose of breeding or showing shall not require an individual dog or cat license provided that the owner has proof of a current rabies vaccination.
(b) "Owner," for the purposes of this section, shall mean any person having an interest in or right of possession to a dog or cat or any person having control, custody or possession of any dog or cat, or having a dog or cat residing consistently at a location.
(c) "Assistance dogs", as defined by KRS 525.010, shall be exempt from the license required by this section.
(d) The fee for each dog and cat license shall be eight dollars ($8.00) for an altered dog or cat and forty dollars ($40.00) for an unaltered dog or cat. In order to receive the reduced license fee for an altered dog or cat, the owner or custodian of the animal must provide either proof of alteration from a licensed veterinarian or a written statement from a licensed veterinarian that the spay or neuter procedure would be harmful to the animal. The fee for reissuance of a lost, unexpired license shall be one dollar ($1.00).
(e) The designated license facility may retain six dollars ($6.00) of the fee from each license issued for an altered dog or cat and ten dollars ($10.00) for each license issued for an unaltered dog or cat. Twenty-five dollars ($25.00) of the fee from each license issued for an unaltered dog or cat shall be retained by the agency designated by the department of public safety and used solely to fund the spay and neuter grant program established by section 4-21.1 of this Code.
(f) The fee for each vaccination voucher shall be five dollars ($5.00).
(g) The license fee collected shall be paid to the division of revenue on or before the fifteenth day of each month.
(h) Any person owning an unlicensed dog or cat shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not to exceed two hundred dollars ($200.00). Each day's continuance of any such violation shall be a separate offense.
(Ord. No. 32-93, § 1, 3-11-93; Ord. No. 177-93, § 1, 9-23-93; Ord. No. 233-96, §§ 1—4, 11-21-96; Ord. No. 90-2005, § 3, 4-21-05; Ord. No. 142-2011, § 1, 11-3-11)
Editor's note(s)—Section 4-12.3 was added by § 1 of Ord. No. 32-93. Sections 2 and 3 of the ordinance gave conflicting effective dates. Section 1 of Ord. No. 57-93 repealed § 3 of Ord. No. 32-93, thus making the ordinance effective July 1, 1993. Ord. No. 123-93, § 1, adopted June 17, 1993, changed the effective date to Oct. 1, 1993. Section 1 of Ord. No. 177-93, adopted Sept. 23, 1993, purported to amend § 14-12.3(a). The amendment was actually to subsection (a) of this § 4-12.3.