York Town News
Owners face charges for expired dog licenses
By Melissa Wood
YORK - It's time to stop procrastinating and get those dog licenses renewed, according to Animal Control Officer Larry McAfee.
Now that almost five months have passed since last year's licenses expired at the end of December, McAfee said it is time for dog owners to pay up. He said out of the town's 1,750 dogs, about 70 remain to be licensed for this year.
"We put a lot of hours in just trying to get people to comply," said McAfee.
Although the York Police Department tries to get people on board without bringing charges, he said if a dog owner is contacted by police and still does not register the dog, the owner would receive a summons. McAfee and Animal Control Officer Thomas Porter are mandated by the Board of Selectmen to get delinquent dog owners to comply by July 1.
In the last two weeks police charged Susan Goodwin of Carrie Lynn Lane and Antoinette M. Ford of Chases Pond Road with failure to re-license their dogs.
McAfee said it doesn't pay to wait to renew dog licenses. Although a license only costs $6 if paid on time or within the month-long January grace period, people who have waited until now must pay $31 for the same license for the same dog. If summonsed, owners face an additional $50 to $200 fine.
For more information, visit http://www.yorkmaine.org/ or call 363-1031
