§ 4-68. Licensing of dogs and cats.

(a)

Any person who owns or keeps in the county a dog or cat three months of age or older shall cause the animal to be licensed annually. A license shall consist of a rabies vaccination and license certificate and a rabies vaccination and license tag for the animal's collar. License certificates and license tags may be issued only by the section manager and licensed veterinarians. No other license certificate or license tag shall be valid in the county. A license certificate or license tag issued for one animal is not valid for any other animal.

(b)

The section manager shall design the license certificate and license tag and shall issue license certificates and license tags to licensed veterinarians.

(c)

The board of county commissioners shall establish by resolution the fees to be charged for the license certificate and license tag.

(d)

Residents of the county who own either a seeing eye dog or a hearing dog, properly trained and actually being used to assist a blind person or a deaf person, respectively, may obtain from the section manager licenses at no charge upon presentation of the proof of such utilization.

(e)

The board may, by resolution, discount fees for neutered and spayed dogs or cats. The discount will be allowed only upon presentation of a certificate of spaying or castration, or of the dog or cat's inability to reproduce, signed by a veterinarian licensed in any state, or upon presentation of proof of prior issuance of a license for the animal at a similarly discounted fee.

(f)

By resolution, the board may provide regulations for kennels and catteries, including provisions for registration, revocation of registration, discounted animal license fees, exemption from license tag requirements, methods of confinement, inspections, and other necessary requirements.

(g)

The board may, by resolution, authorize veterinarians to retain a specified portion of the license fee for each license issued as reimbursement for the cost of issuing the license.

(h)

In the event a license tag is lost or destroyed, a replacement shall be issued by the section manager upon presentation of the corresponding license certificate and payment of the appropriate fee.

(i)

It is unlawful for any person to remove the license tag of any licensed animal within the county except:

(1)

When the animal is participating in any organized exhibition, field trial or competition or is engaged in a legal sport under the supervision of its owner or keeper, or in undergoing grooming; or

(2)

When the animal is confined in a licensed kennel, cattery, grooming facility or veterinary hospital the license tag number shall be recorded and readily identifiable with the animal to which it belongs; if the animal is not licensed, the facility shall clearly indicate it on the facility's records.

(j)

It is unlawful for any person to use or to possess a stolen, counterfeit or forged license certificate or license tag, vaccination certificate, inoculation deferred form or other documentation required by or issued pursuant to this article. It is unlawful for the owner or keeper of a dog or cat to refuse to show upon demand by the section manager or his authorized assistants the certificate of rabies vaccination and license tag or other documents required by and issued pursuant to this article, provided that the section manager may allow an owner or keeper 24 hours to produce the requested documents.

(Code 1992, § 3-34; Ord. No. 82, §§ 5, 6, 11-19-1990; Ord. No. 204, § 6, 9-14-1998)

State law reference

Annual registration of dogs and cats, fee, T.C.A. § 68-8-104.