By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

City registrations for dogs and cats in 2019 are on sale now at the finance office in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.

The city registers about 1,750 pets each year, according to Nikki Hausler, Hays Police Department Animal Control Officer, but “that’s really low,” she says. The annual dog and cat tax is due before March 1.

“You look around Hays and we’ve got a lot of animals out there.”

Hausler urges residents to get their pets registered with the city.

“It’s that one-way ticket for your animal to get home.”

If a person finds a dog or cat wearing a city pet tag, they can all the phone number on the tag – 625-1011 – which is the HPD dispatch center, and then give dispatch the tag number.

“We have 24-hour access to that data base,” explained Hausler.

A rabies vaccination certificate must be presented when purchasing a city tag for a pet. The cost is $5 if the animal is spayed or neutered. If not, the cost is $25 per animal.

“All the cool dogs are blinging this year,” Hausler quips with a smile.

Some pet owners may use microchips to for identification of their animals. Hausler says she has a “love/hate relationship” with microchips.

“I think they’re wonderful if you suspect somebody has stolen your pet because you’ve got that hidden chip inside that animal.”

Most veterinarian offices have a scanner that can read the microchips.

“If the microchip comes back to you, we know that’s your dog.”

The problem is people get their pets microchipped and then they don’t follow up.

“After you get a microchip at the vet clinic, you then have to get online and pay a monthly or yearly subscription.

“A lot of times we scan these animals, which takes about 30 minutes to get through the process, just to find out the owner never registered the microchip in their name. And it doesn’t go back to the vet clinic. They don’t keep track of who microchipped what when.

“So that microchip does no good,” Hausler says. “City pet registration is the way to go, especially inside the city limits.”

More about purchasing a pet license in Hays is available by calling 785-628-7300 or on the city’s website www.haysusa.com. If not paid by March 1, the tax is delinquent.