Pet owners who renew their dog licences every year are not just meeting legal requirements; they are taking an important step to ensure their four-legged friends’ safety.
And thanks to a new online payment system offered by the Township of Langley, they can renew their licences from the comfort of their own home or office, any time of the day or night, within minutes.
“Knowledge is power, and it’s a very powerful system,” said Sean Baker, General Manager of the Langley Animal Protection Society (LAPS), which operates the Patti Dale Animal Shelter. “It updates information almost immediately and puts us in the position to respond 24/7.”
Anyone who owns a dog over the age of four months old in the Township of Langley is required to purchase a licence, which is essentially a permit to own the dog. Fees derived from dog licensing partially fund the services LAPS provide, but more importantly, dog licences give owners peace of mind.
“Accidents happen,” Baker said. “Gates get left open, wind blows down fences. If your dog is running loose and we find it and it is licenced and wearing a tag, we are in a better position to find you and return your dog safely and quickly.”
Renewing the dog licence every year gives LAPS accurate, up-to-date contact information, something that other forms of pet identification can’t guarantee. With tattooing or a micro-chip, records stay with the vet, but if the clinic shuts down or is closed for the night or weekend, the information cannot be retrieved. As well, if the pet owner moves and doesn’t tell the vet the new address, the contact data will be outdated.
If a dog is licensed and tagged, LAPS staff control the information – not a third party – and can quickly access a data base to find its owners with the most current contact information possible.
Dog licence renewal notices were sent out in mid-December and financial incentives are offered to those who renew and pay the fee before February 1. And now it can be done with just a few clicks on the computer.
Last year, the Township of Langley unveiled its new website at tol.ca. The site now features an online payment system at tol.ca/onlineservices that allows residents to pay for business licence renewals, traffic ticket fines, and dog licence renewals at their convenience, rather than coming in to a municipal facility.
“It is so simple. All you have to do is bring up your account, enter your credit card number, and in literally a minute you are done,” said Baker. The system will log that the dog owner has renewed the licence and is in compliance, and the tags will be mailed out by Township staff.
“Dog owners should feel good about it, knowing that the money is going to care for animals and helps run the Patti Dale Animal Shelter, which is an amazing facility,” Baker said. “You never know when you may need our services one day.”
Those who do not license their dogs face a $250 penalty.
Dog licence fees have not been raised in the Township of Langley since 2005.