(A) Any person owning, keeping, possessing, harboring, or having custody within the city of any dog six months old or older must obtain a license for such dog, pursuant to state law, from the City Clerk for a fee to be determined by the county. No person shall keep, possess, harbor, or have custody of an unlicensed dog which is required to be licensed under this section.
(B) The following shall be unlawful:
(1) For any person to own any dog six months old or older that does not at all times wear a collar with a tag approved by the Director of Agriculture, attached as provided in this chapter; or
(2) For any person, except the owner or authorized agent, to remove any license tag from a dog.
(C) A person who owns or harbors a dog shall produce proof of a valid dog license upon request of a person who is authorized to enforce this chapter.
(D) The owner of a dog that is four or more months old shall apply, within 30 days, to the City Clerk or the Clerk's authorized agent for a license for each dog owned or kept by him or her. This subsection will not apply to a nonresident keeping a dog within the city for no longer than 30 days.
(E) The licensing period shall begin April 1. Licensing periods of 1, 2, and 3 years shall be available as options to applicants, except that no license shall be issued for a duration longer than the time during which the dog’s rabies vaccination certificate is valid plus 90 days. All licenses shall expire at the end of March 31 during whichever licensing period was issued to the applicant.
(F) Written application for licenses shall be made to the City Clerk. The license application shall state the breed, sex, age, color, and markings of the dog, and the name and address of the current and last previous owner. The application for a license shall be accompanied by a valid certificate of a current vaccination for rabies, with a vaccine licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture, signed by an accredited veterinarian who directly supervised the vaccination. The certificate for vaccination for rabies shall state the month and year of expiration for the rabies vaccination, in the veterinarian's opinion. When applying for a license, the owner shall pay the required license fee.
(G) The owner of a dog that is required to be licensed under this section shall keep the dog currently vaccinated against rabies by an accredited veterinarian with a vaccine licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture.
(H) A person who becomes owner of a dog that is four or more months old and that is not already licensed shall apply for a license within 30 days. A person who owns a dog that will become four months old and that is not already licensed shall apply for a license within 30 days after the dog becomes four months old.
(I) No license or license tag issued for one animal shall be transferable to another animal. No person shall use any license for any animal other than the animal for which the license was issued.
(J) If a dog license is lost or destroyed, the license holder shall obtain a duplicate license from the city upon payment of the prescribed replacement license fee.
(K) The City Clerk shall maintain a record of the identifying numbers of all tags issued and shall make this record available to the public during business hours. These records will be kept for a period of three years.
(1978 Code, § 6-23; Ord. No. 215-A, § 2, 12-19-89; Ord. No. 368, § 1, 3-18-03; Ord. No. 431, § 2, 10-1-13) Penalty, see § 1-9
Statutory reference:
Dog law, see M.C.L. §§ 287.261 et seq.