It’s been two years since the Stafford Board of Supervisors approved a lifetime dog license, meaning that dog owners would now only need to purchase the license once vs. an annual option, or what had been a more popular three-year license.
Starting Nov. 1, 2017, the county began offering the lifetime license and since then has issued 9,375-lifetime licenses, according to Stafford County Treasurer Laura Rudy. Now it’s the only type of dog license it issues.
In 2015, 2016, and 2017, the county issued a combined number of 7,000 one-year and three-year dog licenses, netting $69,229, $67,500, and $57,000 for county offers, respectively.
In 2018, revenues from the new lifetime dog license were $70,680.
This year, however, the number has declined to issue just 2,307 dog licenses issued so far, netting $22,279 in revenue.
“We suspect that since the Lifetime Dog licenses are now issued we will see fewer dog tags issued,” said Rudy.
A 2007 law requires veterinarians to send vaccination records or animals to the county treasurer’s office for the jurisdiction where the shot was given.
The lifetime dog license fee is $10, but the county could charge as much as $50. Owners with up to 25 dogs can buy lifetime licenses for $25, and a kennel of 50 dogs costs $50.
The lifetime license is good as long as the dog’s rabies shots are kept up to date.
*This post has been updated.
