(1) Every person who owns or harbors one or more dogs within the corporate limits of such city, shall procure a license for each dog as provided in this act. In applying for such license to be issued or renewed, the applicant shall provide in writing the name, sex, breed, age, color and markings of the dog for which the license is to be procured or renewed and such information that the commissioner of health and mental hygiene of such city deems necessary to notify the applicant when the license is due to be renewed or to contact the applicant in the event the dog is found after becoming lost or strayed. Such commissioner may issue rules requiring proof of rabies vaccination, or an affirmation that such vaccine has been administered, as part of the application for such license to be issued or renewed. (2) Licenses issued or renewed under this act shall be valid for a term of one year or, pursuant to rules issued by such commissioner, for a period greater than one year. (3) The fees for a license issued or renewed under this act shall be set by local law, subject to the provisions of this subdivision. There shall be a base fee for a license to be issued or renewed for any dog. There shall be an additional fee for a license to be issued or renewed for a non-sterilized dog. The amount of such additional fee shall be at least eighty-five percent of the amount of the base fee. Applicants shall pay the additional fee unless their application is accompanied by: (i) a statement signed by a licensed veterinarian providing that the dog has been sterilized or that such veterinarian has examined the dog and found that because of old age or other permanent medical condition, the life of the dog would be endangered by sterilization, or (ii) a statement, approved as to form by such commissioner and affirmed by the applicant, that the dog has been sterilized. (4) The amount collected for the additional fee charged for a license to be issued or renewed for an unsterilized dog as provided in subdivi- sion three of this section shall be forwarded to the city comptroller for deposit in the animal population control fund created pursuant to section 17-812 of the administrative code of the city of New York. (5) When a license is issued or renewed for a term other than one year, the fees shall be a prorated amount of the fees per year set as provided in subdivision three of this section. (6) Any person who fails to renew a license prior to its date of expi- ration may be required to pay a late fee upon renewal of a license, with the amount of such late fee set by local law. Such amount shall be no more than twenty percent of the amount of the base fee for a license to be issued or renewed as provided in subdivision three of this section. (7) The application for a license to be issued or renewed shall be accompanied by a statement as prescribed by such commissioner, notifying the applicant that he or she may submit, along with the fees required by this section, an additional amount to be utilized for the purpose of funding low-cost sterilization services from the animal population control fund created pursuant to section 17-812 of the administrative code of the city of New York. Any additional amount submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in such fund. (8) From the fees collected pursuant to this act for each dog license issued or renewed, the sum of ten cents annually for the term of such license shall be remitted by such city to the commissioner of agricul- ture and markets on or before the fifteenth day of each month, with such sum to be used to fund research into diseases of dogs and the search for and the study of viruses that affect people and animals. (9) The amount of any fee charged pursuant to this act shall not be based in whole or part on the breed of the dog. N.Y. Lost and Strayed Animals Law § 2
Amended by New York Laws 2014, ch. 485,Sec. 1, eff. 2/15/2015.