I was only young at the time but I can remember my mum had one, what was the licence for? And if it was brought back in would it sort out these irresponsible dog owners or was it another government money making thing out of dog owners?

It wouldn't sort out any problems.  when the dog license was alive and well there were lots of Latchkey dogs, irrreponsibley bred litters etc etc.  there are plenty of laws an bylaws regarding dogs, and many of them are simply not enforced.  It is the law that all dogs wear a tag with their owners name and address on, that they are on lead on a public highway, etc etc.

the responsible would pay, and the irresponsible wouldn't.  Most problems with dogs do not have identifying the owner as a problem.  Many dogs are microchipped and regitered with the Kennel club, but many owners never update the ownership details.

When was the last time someone was prosecuted for not having a dog with a collar and tag?  Mine don't have them!

Hiya Jackyjat,  Please have your dogs tagged, even if they are microchipped.  Not long after I moved house, my dog ran off after a cat when we were in the park (first time ever that he had done this in his 9 years) and promptly disappeared.  I went frantic with worry as the park was some way from home and I thought he might try to cross busy roads to get home.  Fortunately for me, I had bought him a new tag for the new address and phone number and a kind man who had found him in his garden near the park brought him home to me.  If he hadn't been tagged with the current details, who knows what might have happened to him.

Jackyjat, is there a particular reason for your dogs not having a collar & tag?  Mine are tattoo'ed but still wear a collar with ID tag when going on walks. It's impossible for them to get out of the garden, but I'd never forgive myself, if for any reason they got lost on a walk.  When you see a dog roaming around loose without a collar, and no owner, you tend to think someone has just dumped it.  Sue

Hi Sue, I've got three working gun dogs and it's far more dangerous for them to wear collars.  Our local Police Force have scanners to check dogs, as does our dog warden and of course the local vets.  They haven't ever gone out of county.

Each of them wore collars when pups and I took them off once they started getting stuck in the undergrowth.  Once the pup got the tag (from the chip!) tangled on sheep fencing under a blackthorn bush and it took a rescue party to remove him and a considerable amount of hedgerow to be removed to do so. 

I've even met the dog warden who didn't comment on the fact they didn't have collars but she was aware that they were 'chipped.

I promise you I wouldn't have a pet dog without a collar, not would I walk mine on roads without.  We live in a rural area.  I would still be interested to know when the last person was prosecuted for not having a tagged dog.

Hope this explains.  Jacky

Working dogs (working sheepdogs, gundogs, foxhounds, police dogs etc) are exempt from the collar law whilst working.
:)

The problem I have is that they just don't know when it's their day off!

For safety's sake my dogs never have a collar on when out. But then, they are always working when out. I always have a dummy with me and as I see an interesting situation I use it for training. Working gundogs running into cover can so easily hang themselves that I never take the chance.

Regards, John

Thanks Jacky for your reply, and I understand your situation now. Perhaps some people do not realise, it is just as dangerous to leave a collar on a dog and go out of the house and leave a dog/s on their own. A friend of a friend, left her dog in the house (with collar on) whilst she went out shopping. She came home to find that the dog must have jumped up in her absence, and it's collar had caught in a door knob/handle. Unfortunately, it had been unable to release itself and had literally strangled itself. The poor woman came home in a short space of time, to find a dead dog. The experience I had once, was when I was looking after 3 Flatcoats for a friend (at her house) whilst she was out for the day.The younger dog had tried playing with the older dog, and in doing so got his jaw under the other dogs collar. He panicked because he could not free himself, and ended up winding the other dogs collar round and round almost choking him. I had to act quick and find a pair of scissors and cut the collars off them both, the screeching and choking noises they made was awful, and it happened in a matter of seconds. By then, the middle dog was frightened by all the noise the other 2 were making, and had a go at me, as he thought I was ill treating them. If the dogs had been on their own, there would have been 2 dead dogs, it was very traumatic to say the least, but it's as easy as that.  If I only go out for 5 minutes, I always take Sasha's collar off. Better safe than sorry. Thanks again for replying. Sue x

I am a little confused here - don't you have dog licences in England?

Many years ago yes, but as far as i know the government abolished them

well here in the Isle of Man we still have the dog licence, and you get a tag to display on the lead, every year is a different colour. If your dog is picked up by the dog warden, and you do not have a current licence, you will be fined (can't remember how much), and it is an on the spot fine. Also you have to pay a fee to the warden for picking up the dog !!!! Our dog escaped for a few hours about 4 years ago and was picked up - he had a licence etc, but I still had to pay about £26.00 to get him back. We don't have many stray dogs here. It doesn't prevent people, who shouldn't have dogs, having dogs - if you get my drift.

That sounds very sensible, and I wish we had such a system here too. How much is the licence?

The licence is £13.00 per dog over 6 months old-  half price for a neutered male (vet cert to prove this), but the fine is about £40 or £50.00.  - It is renewable every April and the form is printed in the newpaper so no one has an excuse.

Had forgotton those, The last dog licence I bought cost me 7/6d, 38pence to you lot :D

37 1/2p actually! ;) We still had halfpennies then! Yep, 7/6 was the cost when dog licences were introduced in Victorian times, and it never changed.

They were abolished in 1988 (I think).

So i wasnt that young then just a bad memory LOL :-) So what was it for?

It was simply permission to keep a dog. By the time the last ones were issued (mine was valid until the last day of August 1988) the price had fallen to 37p - halfpennies must have been taken out of circulation by then I suppose! The penalty for refusing to show the Licence to 'any duly authorised Officer, or Police Constable' or for keeping a dog above 6 months old without a Licence, was £10.

I think that is right as I sort of remember getting one when we got Mars :)

Lucy
xx

I think you're wrong JG. I'm sure it was 3/6 in old money 17 and a half pence in this new fangled stuff they laughingly call money!!! I remember it well. It was not worth the cost of issuing it. As for doing any good for dogs, no, nothing at all.

Regards, John

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4751&item=5550469936&rd=1&ssPageName=WD1V

Cant do links(sorry)

Blimey! They're asking £1.99 for it! That's extortionate! Plus 60p P&P! I've got two in the file ... :D

Sorry John, I still have Bella's and Polly's ones here! 37p the last one cost. They were definitely 7/6d before decimalisation.
:)

Yes John, they definitely were 37.5p - or seven and a tanner!!!

Remember getting ours at the local Post Office & someone saying why did we have to PAY to own our dogs, whilst the PO PAID us to have our kids!!!

Margot

John I remember it being 7/6d I used to hand over a ten shilling note :D and getting a half crown change  OMG I shouldnt have posted this, :D

Nope, it was definately 7/6d - when I had 2 dogs, it used to cost me a whole 15/- - a year!!

Oop's sorry JG. It must be these rose coloured glasses. (Or maybe my "Burns Night" malt last night had finally addled my brain. ;)

No worries John! Maybe the distant skirlin' o' the pipes muddled you! ;) :)

Or it could have been the "Ghoullies and ghosties and four legged beasties and things that go bump in the night!"

John ;)

I definately remember it because the 10/- was my pocket money and I had to pay for my own dog licence as my father said I should be responsible.

Yea my Dad made me save up for my dog, One thing it did mean was if your dog got out accidently,and got ran over or knocked by a car,it did have to by law be reported as a licenced animal,luckely none of ours ever got out, but at least you would have known if they had been involved in an accident or just gone missing in some way.

Reporting accidents involving dogs
The Road Traffic Act 1988 lays down the rules for conduct when a dog and certain other animals are injured in an accident that involves motor vehicles on the road. The rule does not apply when the dog is in a vehicle or trailer pulled by it.

The driver must stop
If the driver does not stop or refuses to give his/her name to the dog's owner at the time, the driver must report the accident to the police within 24 hours of the incident. Failure to do this renders the driver liable for prosecution

Oh dear, I am going to have to go and hand myself in in the morning :( I got my first dog in 1984 and I'm am sure I have never bought a license :)
I do remember my Dad, though, going down to the Post Office to tell his annual joke of "just a black and white one please", how the postmistress laughed :rolleyes: :D

we have dog licences in ireland ...

I remember the dog licence Nettie!!  I don't think it would do any good to reinstate it because, as always, the responsible people stick to the rules and the irresponsible ones ignore them!!

All I thought was if they bring back the licence all these people who cant keep their aggressive dogs under control can receive a big fine and if they didn't have a licence it would be a huge fine and depending on the amount of damage the dog does and for what reason maybe loosing the right to own a dog for a few years like a driving ban although I know its an offence to have a dog dangerously out of control in a public place when I reported an incident last year to the police about a dog attacking us they told me because it went for my dog and didn't bite a human they couldn't do anything they didn't cover dog to dog attacks to phone my dog warden, later on I found out they could of done something about it because of the law stated above which is on the local police website they just couldn't be bothered doing the paperwork eh :-(

This is copy and pasted from the Cleveland Police website

A neighbour has a vicious dog. What can be done?

Under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 it is an offence for a dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place. For the owner to be prosecuted the dog does not need to be in a public place, but simply for the animal to either bite someone or to put someone in fear. In this case contact the police.

The local authority is responsible for picking up and keeping stray dogs. The police only keep stray dogs brought to police stations until the council takes the dogs away. Your local police station has a list of lost, and found dogs.

Certain breeds of fighting dog such as Filo Braziliero, Pitbull Terrier, Japanese Toza, and Dogo Argentino can only be owned by people over 21. These dogs have to be on a lead and muzzled in public and have certificates of exemption.

If you are attacked, or bitten by a dog, seek medical attention, then contact the police. The incident should also be reported to your local authority dog warden.