Deborah S. Nester
Williams County Auditor.

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"ELMO - COUNTY AUDITOR'S MASCOT"

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WILLIAMS COUNTY DOG LAWS AND REGULATIONS

Why License Your Dog?

There is one exceptionally good reason for licensing your dog; if your animal is missing, the dog warden can quickly notify you that your pet has been found, enabling you to quickly claim him.

Section 955.12 of the Ohio Revised Code allows the county to hold a licensed dog for up to 14 days, after mailing a notice of its capture to the owner, before allowing it to be either sold or destroyed. (If a dog is unlicensed, the Law allows it to be either destroyed or sold after being held for only three days.)

Dog Tags May Be Issued By…

• The County Auditor
  
• Authorized Humane Societies
  
• Authorized dog wardens and their deputies
  
• Other authorized agents
  

Service Dogs Are Permanently Registered

Service dogs (guide, leader and support animals) must also be licensed, but their fee is waived. Once they are registered with the county, they are permanently licensed by receiving a special tag.

Licensing Your Dog Is Easy and Inexpensive

If you own a dog that is over three months of age, stop by your County Auditor's Office between December 1 and the following January 31. Simply fill out the brief registration form and pay the annual fee per dog or kennel.

Each dog receives a distinctive tag number (dog kennels receive five consecutively numbered tags).

Once your dog has been assigned a license, the license number and the information about him is permanently filed in the county's records.

If you obtain a dog after January 31, the Law requires its registration (Ohio Revised Code Section 955.01) within 30 days of your becoming the owner. There is a late registration fee if the registration is not obtained within 30 days of obtaining the dog.

Ensure That Your Dog Stays Home

Ohio Law requires all dog owners keeping their animals "either physically confined or restrained upon the premises of the owner…by a leash, tether, adequate fence, supervision, or secure enclosure to prevent escape, or under reasonable control of some person, except when the dog is lawfully engaged in hunting accompanied by the owner…or a handler." (Ohio Revised Code 955.22)

Unless a dog is confined in a registered kennel, he must wear his license (tag) at all times. IF he is not wearing his tag, he is subject to impounding, sale, or destruction (Ohio Revised Code 955.10).

If your dog is impounded because he was not wearing his license and is not redeemed within three days, the dog warden may either have him humanely destroyed or sell him to any nonprofit Ohio institution or organization that is certified to engage in either teaching or researching the prevention of diseases of human beings or animals. The animal may also be donated to any nonprofit special agency engaged in training service dogs (Ohio Revised Code 955.16).

If Your Dog's Tag Is Lost…

Simply provide your County Auditor with proof of its loss and a duplicate tag will be issued for $1.50.

To Claim Your Dog If He's Been Impounded…

You need to go to your local pound (or, in some counties, the Humane Society is authorized to act as the county's dog warden) and pay the costs the county incurred for impounding and housing your dog. If your dog was not licensed when picked up, you must also purchase a registration tag before taking him home.

Your Dog Warden's Duties

Chapter 955 of the Ohio Revised Code lists the county dog warden's duties. They include:

• Issuing dog licenses when deputized by the County Auditor
  
• Keeping a record of the tags sold and dogs "owned, kept and harbored' in the county.
  
• Seizing dogs that are inhumanely treated.
  
• Patrolling the county to impound unregistered (unlicensed) dogs.
  
• Notifying the owner if their dog is impounded.
  
• Recommending enclosed pens and the purchase of liability insurance to owners of dogs bred as protection animals.
  
• Quarantine of a dog if it has bitten a human.
  
• Disposing of unclaimed dogs through either dale, donation to authorized programs, or humane death.
  

Section 955.24 also states "No person shall obstruct or interfere with anyone lawfully engaged in capturing an unregistered dog or making an examination of a dog wearing a tag."

According to the Ohio Revised Code, section 955.02, a kennel owner is a "person, partnership, firm, company, or corporation professionally engaged in the business of breeding dogs for hunting or sale." When a person breeds dogs avowedly as a hobby, "but permits sales to become such a factor that he advertises for sale" the breeding activity and dogs, that person "is professionally engaged in the business of dog breeding" and should be registered as a kennel.

The term "kennel" means any pack or collection of dogs, over the age of three months, kept together for the purpose of hunting or for sale. (Ohio Revised Code 955.04)

If Your Dog Moves To A New Home

The new owner is required to record the ownership change with the County Auditor. They must present a transfer of ownership certificate, signed by the former owner, and pay the $0.25 fee.

Ensure That Your Dog Says Healthy

By the time your dog is 3-4 months old, it should be immunized against rabies and other communicable diseases. Depending on which vaccine your veterinarian uses, your dog will need booster shots every one or three years.

DOG TAGS CAN BE PURCHASED AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

Williams County Auditor's Office	Court House	Bryan
Bryan Area Animal Hospital	State Route 34	Byran
Monteplier Do It Best Hardware	1450 Whitaker Way	Montpelier
Donaldson's Ace Hareware	421 N. Union Street	Bryan
Dog Warden, Beverly Charles	Dog Pound	Bryan
Edon Hardware Company	108 N. Michigan	Edon
Fountain City Veterinary Hospital	1202 S. Main Street	Bryan
Heartland Food	203 S. Defiance Street	Stryker
Jefferson Veterinary Clinic	County Road K	West Unity
Northwest Ohio Dog Trainers	Main & Henry Streets	Monpelier
Nye's Hardware & Florist	428 W. Vine Street.	Edgerton
Scribner's Hardware	107 W. Jackson Street	West Unity
Tri-State Outfitters	13449 SR. 15	Holiday City
Your Family Pets and Grooming	215 W. Main	Montpelier

The price of a single license is $12.00 and the price of a kennel license is $60.00. 2001 Dog Tags are on sale at the above locations through January 31, 2001, without penalty. All issuing agencies except the Auditor's office will charge a fee of $.75 per license or kennel license. All dogs, three months or older, are required to have a license. (O.R.C. 955.01) A TWELVE DOLLAR ($12.00) PENALTY will be added for each license and A SIXTY DOLLAR ($60.00) PENALTY will be added for each kennel license after January 31, 2001.