Last week's discussion about dogs and cats receiving different treatment on the licensing front brought on mixed opinions from readers. 

As a follow up, we received the following question:

What is the dog license fee used for?

We went back to Danvers Health Director Peter Mirandi for the answer. 

Mirandi said the cost for dog licenses ($20 annual fee), offsets the cost of providing the services for residents of Danvers. 

"Public Health and the Town Clerk’s office share duties of licensing and managing dogs," Mirandi said. "These duties include, but are not limited to the following,"

• Mail out over 2000 notices to renew the license
• Receive and processing 1,689 dogs, whose owners have responded;
• Prepare a second mail-out scheduled for August. Before this begins, Town Hall tries to omit dogs that have either perished or moved. This is a labor intense and sensitive task.
• Maintain the list of licensed dogs from year-to-year so that it can be useful in the field
• Enforce the leash law
•  Respond to complaints
•  Respond to reports of animal bites (this is a multi-step process)
•  Assist with the proper care of strays and abandoned domestic animals
•  Remove and properly dispose of animal carcasses (we do not pick up dead animals on private property or animal carcasses rabbit-size or smaller)
• Respond to sick wildlife reports
• Respond to loose animal calls (different than the leash law)
• Assist the police in a wide variety of animal control issues
• Investigate reports of domestic animal care issues of all stripes
• Act as liaison for the Town with Danvers Animal Hospital, as many unclaimed animals are taken there, some of which the Town is legally responsible for.

For more information about obtaining a dog license and Chapter 140, Section 137 of the General Laws, click here. 

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