Be Sure to Register Your Furry Friends This Month

It’s the time of year for all dog owners to renew or obtain licenses for their canines aged six months and older.

Your dog license can be picked up at the Town Clerk’s Office for $8 if your dog has been spayed or neutered and $19 if not.  If you neglect to register your dog before June 30, you will be subject to a payment penalty of $1 a month and a possible $75 fine.

Colleen Ann Reidy of the Enfield Town Clerk’s office says it is important to get a license because if your dog is lost, “we are able to reunite a dog with its owner from its tag.” She also pointed out that if you happen upon a stray dog, “you know that it’s vaccinated if it’s licensed.”

If that’s not incentive enough, the possibility of getting the no. 1 dog tag drives some people to wait in line on June 2.

“It gets crazy in here,” Reidy said.

This year’s no. 1 and 2 tags went to Bob Lemay’s two terriers, Checkers (no. 1) and Chess (no. 2).

In order to get your dog’s license, they must have a rabies vaccination certificate and proof that the animal has been spayed or neutered.

Reidy estimates that Enfield has over 6,000 dogs, and 878 have already been registered this month.

Jason Mule, proud owner of two English Springer Spaniels, thinks highly of Enfield’s tag system.

“I think the licensing system for dogs in Enfield is great. By giving my dogs ID numbers on their licenses registered to my name, the town could notify me if my dogs somehow got out of my yard while I was at work,” he said. “It's also a good way to verify that people are having their dogs vaccinated for rabies which is obviously good for public safety.”

Dog owners who have yet to license their dog this year can pick up their tags at the Town Clerk’s Office at 820 Enfield Street. The fee of $1 per month that your dog is not registered will be charged beginning July 1.

Owners may also purchase tags via mail, like resident Celine Peach did for her dog, Libby. Just mail the correct form, a check payable to the Town of Enfield Town Clerk’s Office, proof of rabies vaccination, proof of spaying or neutering and a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Town Clerk’s Office.

Please call the Town Clerk at 860-253-630 for more details or to notify that you are no longer a dog owner.

Residents can also access the Animal Control website for more information or if you’re looking to adopt a pet.