Lifetime dog license proposed

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Cumberland County Board of Supervisors will host a public hearing to consider implementing lifetime dog licenses during its upcoming meeting Tuesday, July 9, starting at 7 p.m.

The request to implement the licenses came from the Cumberland County Treasurer, County Administrator and Attorney Vivian Seay Giles said during the June meeting.

Currently, Giles said the tags are purchased annually in the county. The cost for the license, Giles said, comes to approximately $4.

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“It’s a lot of processing for a small fee,” Giles said.

The lifetime licenses would be a one-time purchase and would be adopted in the county through an ordinance.

District Five Supervisor Parker Wheeler asked about the cost of the new license. Giles estimated the lifetime license could come to approximately $20.

“That’s not set in stone,” Giles said. “That’s … a recommendation on the table.”

She said localities have been permitted to allow lifetime dog license through action taken by the Virginia General Assembly in recent years.

In 2017, the General Assembly approved House Bill (HB) 1477, which authorizes the administration of a county or city to allow lifetime dog or cat license.

“Such a license shall be valid only as long as the animal’s owner resides in the issuing locality and the animal’s rabies vaccination is kept current,” the text of HB 1477 cited.

During the June meeting, supervisors unanimously voted to set the public hearing for July’s meeting.