2023 dog licenses on sale starting Jan. 3

Cynthia Parkin, Jet, Ruffles, Raquel Lackey — Contributed photo

The Coun­ty sends along news about this year’s dog licens­ing program.

The San Juan Coun­ty Auditor’s office is ready for the 2023 dog licens­ing sea­son. Each year, the depart­ment has the plea­sure of rec­og­niz­ing a celebri­ty dog and issu­ing them the first dog tag. Com­pe­ti­tion in 2023 was steep and just one Celebri­ty Dog could not be crowned, so the hon­or goes to Jet and Ruf­fles, the Cri­sis Response Canines for San Juan Coun­ty. Jet and Ruf­fles encour­age all pet own­ers to license their dogs as soon as pos­si­ble in the new year.

Ruf­fles and her own­er Raquel Lack­ey sup­port first respon­ders and spend time with chil­dren learn­ing to read in an effort to pro­mote lit­er­a­cy. Jet and his own­er Cyn­thia Parkin joined the Fire Depart­ment in 2021 after cer­ti­fy­ing through Nation­al Cri­sis Response Canines. They remain grate­ful for the oppor­tu­ni­ty to sup­port first respon­ders and any com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers affect­ed by cri­sis or trauma.

All dogs in San Juan Coun­ty are required to be licensed annu­al­ly. Dog licens­es are avail­able start­ing Tues­day, Jan. 3, and cur­rent fees are $15 for dogs that are spayed or neutered and $40 for oth­er canines. A late fee of $10 applies to licens­es pur­chased after March 31. Add a pho­to of your dog for an addi­tion­al $5 per year, which will dis­play when the dog’s license num­ber is looked up. This addi­tion­al mea­sure of secu­ri­ty adds price­less peace of mind if a dog is lost.

San Juan Coun­ty dog license fees fund the licens­ing pro­gram and an account that com­pen­sates res­i­dents for live­stock killed or injured by stray, dan­ger­ous dogs. The bal­ance of col­lect­ed fees is dis­trib­uted to the local Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Soci­eties for impound services.

Dog licens­es are avail­able at a vari­ety of San Juan Coun­ty loca­tions. If you live on San Juan Island, get your tag at the San Juan Coun­ty Auditor’s office or the Ani­mal Pro­tec­tion Soci­ety. For added con­ve­nience, licens­es can also be pur­chased through the mail:

San Juan Coun­ty Auditor
Attn: Dog Licensing
PO Box 638
Fri­day Har­bor, WA 98250

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