Dog owners in the First State have a new way to get their four-legged friend licensed - one that can help them find their pup if it goes missing.
The state’s Office of Animal Welfare, which oversees dog licensing, is teaming up with the company DocuPet to manage dog licensing. OAW Executive Director Christina Motoyoshi says the new system is designed to make registering your dog more streamlined.
“We wanted to make it even easier for people to get a dog license and also raise awareness because a lot of people just don't know that it's required by law," she says.
When you register your dog with the service, it gets a tag with a unique code. If your dog goes missing, anyone who finds it can look up that code online Then, the OAW and DocuPet staff will help get your four-legged friend back home,
“If someone finds your pet and it has that tag on it, they can get in touch with you very quickly and get that pet back to you," Motoyoshi says. "So that's a real benefit. We pick up thousands of stray dogs every year, so people think it won't happen to them, but it is very easy and quick for a dog to slip out of a gate that was left open or or get out the front door.”
In addition to being the law, Motoyoshi says requiring dog licenses is good public policy.
“It helps us get pets back home quickly and save precious limited shelter space for those animals that need it the most," she says. "It also helps support animal welfare programs and services in the state.”
Dog owners can register their furry friend with Docupet by visiting stateofdelaware.docupet.com. You’ll need a certificate of current rabies vaccination.
