Dog license - history question?

Boom__Boom

Has there been any serious proposals to do away with the notion of a dog license over the last 40 years?

Don't have a dog, never had a dog, but I had a notion that sometime over the last 40 years there was a proposal for the dog license to be done away with and that this had occurred.

It was only recently when my sister mentioned she had to get a dog license renewed that I realised it was still in existence.

However prior to this I would have sworn blind it had been done away with years ago. Am I going mad or were there serious proposals to do away with it at one stage ? (possibly in the 80s or early 90s ?)

mymo

It was done away with in the UK some years ago, there was talk of bringing it back, not sure if they did.
It's gone up in price here now, I am thinking of going for the lifetime licence which is more expensive, but you only buy it once and it does the dogs whole lifetime.

anniehoo

The only time i bought a dog licence, was in 1988.

1988!!! I asked my parents for the money and i got it in the post office. I was 9.

Boring story. Yep. I have never got one since. We are bombarded as pet owners to vaccinate, licence,microchip etc etc, but of the 3 of these i only see the purpose in doing 2 out 3 of these things. Guess which 2!

You will hear the same spiel decade after decade: "there's no money for pounds", "there's no pooper scooper bins in our parks", "why can't there be a national database for lost and found animals" etc etc

Guess what? It's the same now as it was in 1988. Was it because i never bought a dog licence? No. Animals come last in our country and always have.It's not that i never wanted to buy a licence, it's just i never saw the point. I still don't.

The few people who are buying licences,are wasting their hard earned money funding a system that have "animals" last on their list. Government funded pounds and "some" of the people who run them are being paid massive amounts of money (€200k+ p.a) but yet you would be appalled at what this money is spent on. Animal care, rehoming, heating, etc? Nope.That's what the endless rescues/charities are for. Is your licence fee helping them? I can guarantee the majority of it isn't.

Until i see every animal owner needing a licence (across the board from hamster to horse) and that money being spent for the good of these animals i will never buy another Government levied animal licence again.

mymo

We seem to get visited by someone checking for dog licences about every 18 months, I buy one then, but I feel the same way as you anniehoo, it is a waste.
I would love to see some proper legislation regarding care of animals (not just dogs and cats either), but I really think much of the problem is ignorance. More education regarding pet care is needed.

tk123

Surely we could say the same about road tax, property tax etc being a waste? It's the law so I pay it..

DBB

Where I live, we have a pretty good county pound, and for a small number of staff the county is very well policed by the wardens, in general.
If you don't pay your license here, there's a pretty good chance you're going to be caught, and fined. Once you're in the system, and you don't renew, you stand a good chance of being caught, and fined. If you're caught, and the case goes to court, your name will appear in the local paper. In my line, I couldn't have this happen, it could be damaging to me.
There are not many dog owners here who take a chance, and I'm happy enough that my license fee is going towards a well-run pound, and well-enforced dog control laws.
That said, there's no doubt this is the exception, and I know of many abuses of money and seriously overpaid pound managers around the country. The licensing system needs a serious overhaul, in general it's a very ill system. If, if the new animal welfare laws ever get enacted, we just might see a change in the way things happen with our pounds.

ABajaninCork

I bought a dog licence for my Dobies when I lived in London for a grand total of 75p for both! And yes - the licence in the UK hasn't existed for 30 years (since 1984 IIRC).

I didn't know a licence was required here until the warden appeared at our door looking for a neighbour's dog. Our nosy little git then appeared at the window, so we had no choice but to get one. It's now E20 for one. What this is for, I have no clue. As far as I can see, this is another bloody money making racket.

There's an awful dog mess problem in our part of the city. No dog bins, and the council have only just got round to providing poo bags on production of the licence. This is very recent (only came in a couple of months ago). Mind you - if you go south of the Lee, there's loads of dog bins, and far less of a problem. I wonder why that is?

ISDW

ABajaninCork wrote: »

I bought a dog licence for my Dobies when I lived in London for a grand total of 75p for both! And yes - the licence in the UK hasn't existed for 30 years (since 1984 IIRC).

Are you sure it wasn't an even more princely sum of 25p? It used to be 12 and a half pence per dog, so it cost more to administer than they ever made from it.

ABajaninCork

Quite sure. I still have Luke's licence. It was 37.5p in 1983. Lady's licence was circa 1984.

juniord

37.5p in old money was 7shillings and sixpence if you ever watch match play golf and a player is 7 holes up with 6 to play they often say he /she won by a dog license

DBB

In Northern Ireland, the dog wears his license! It's a disc they wear, and must wear, on their collar.
The license costs £50, but if you provide a cert from a vet to certify your dog is neutered, the license costs £5.
I wish we had joined-up thinking like that down here!

ISDW

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Quite sure. I still have Luke's licence. It was 37.5p in 1983. Lady's licence was circa 1984.

Sorry, you are of course absolutely right, that is how much it was when it was abolished, and so worrying to realise that 1983 wasn't only 10 years ago, but was 30 years ago :eek:

ABajaninCork

DBB wrote: »

In Northern Ireland, the dog wears his license! It's a disc they wear, and must wear, on their collar.
The license costs £50, but if you provide a cert from a vet to certify your dog is neutered, the license costs £5.
I wish we had joined-up thinking like that down here!

Wow! What a great idea!!! We certainly don't have that at home in England, and I really wish we did. No chance of something similar happening here, I suppose...

mymo

They used to wear the licence in UK too, when my granny died over there we found a bunch of tags that were varying ages, I think 50s and 60s with licence number on them.

I like the idea of reduced rate for neutering, it might actually go some way to reducing the problem with over crowded pounds and shelters here.

Bullseye1

DBB wrote: »

In Northern Ireland, the dog wears his license! It's a disc they wear, and must wear, on their collar.
The license costs £50, but if you provide a cert from a vet to certify your dog is neutered, the license costs £5.
I wish we had joined-up thinking like that down here!

That's interesting and a good idea.

DBB

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Wow! What a great idea!!! We certainly don't have that at home in England, and I really wish we did. No chance of something similar happening here, I suppose...

mymo wrote: »

I like the idea of reduced rate for neutering, it might actually go some way to reducing the problem with over crowded pounds and shelters here.

If I remember correctly, the idea was first used in New South Wales, Australia, where they had a huge overhaul of their dog control legislation, a lot of which is very sensible: make it really expensive to own a dog if you're not going to do it responsibly.
When submissions were invited for the new Animal Welfare Bill for Ireland a few years ago, I'm pretty confident that at least some of the major players in rescue and dog control in Ireland will have proposed this reduced license system (as well as mandatory microchipping).
Believe it or not, there is a lobby group for cat and dog welfare in Ireland (The Stray Dogs and Cats forum), which has met up a couple of times in the past decade. At one of them, the NSW model was presented as being the ideal to which Ireland needs to work towards (members include many rescues, vets, vet nurses, IGDA, IKC, various county councils.. I'm sure I'm forgetting some!)

ABajaninCork

How far did they get with pushing this idea forward?

There was a time when you didn't have to have a licence, but I'm not sure of the era. (I thought 70's/80's?) I think the new microchipping will get rid of non licenced dogs.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2010/en/act/pub/0029/print.html#sec24

DBB

ABajaninCork wrote: »

How far did they get with pushing this idea forward?

Submissions were invited from the public for creating the new animal welfare bill, I suppose 5 yrs ago? The Stray Dogs and Cats forum, and presumably many of the organisations it represents as individuals, submitted their suggestions and proposals for this bill.
Where is this Bill now? Somewhere in the ether in Dail Eireann. There were mumblings in the past year or so that it was almost ready to be enacted, but I'm guessing that the country's finances are putting Bills such as this way down the list. It probably also needs a concerted effort by the public and interested parties to put some pressure on.
I'd imagine the finished product will look something similar to the new Animal Welfare Acts which have been introduced in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in recent years. These Acts aren't perfect, but they're hugely better than what they replaced.

euser1984

What is the story regarding insurance etc. or if your dog attacked someone/ another dog if you don't have a licence.

ABajaninCork

The lack of a licence isn't really the issue and doesn't affect liability. The question is whether your insurance (if you have any) will pay. Or if you don't enough money to cover the other party's vet bills.