HARRISBURG, Pa. — State officials are again calling out a desperate need to raise Pennsylvania dog licensing fees, which have not changed since 1996.
Currently, an annual license is $8.50 and a lifetime license is $51.50. If the animal is spayed or neutered, the annual fee is $6.50 and the lifetime fee is $31.50. Discounts are available to older adults and people with disabilities. Violators can be cited with a maximum fine of $300 per violation.
The fees fund the Dog Law Enforcement Bureau, which employs dog wardens for services such as kennel inspections and other canine services.
Right now, there aren’t nearly enough dog wardens. Since the last time the dog licensing fee was raised in 1996, the number of dog wardens went down by 14. At the same time, the bureau’s costs have more than doubled.
Costs went up significantly following the passage of stricter kennel regulations passed in 2008. The regulations came in the wake of public outcry over the state’s reputation as a puppy mill hotbed.
“We have some of the highest standards in the nation, but we need the people to get out and inspect the kennels and uphold them so that we don’t return to that reputation of being a puppy mill capital,” said Shannon Powers, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Dog Law Enforcement Bureau.
York and Lancaster Counties are among the counties currently without a dog warden, even as Lancaster County has by far the most kennels of any county in the state.
“If your dog gets lost or you encounter a dangerous dog, you expect somebody from the state to be able to assist you with that. That’s the dog warden,” said State Sen. Judy Schwank, (D- Berks), who supports raising the dog licensing fee. “We do not have enough funding within the Department of Agriculture to maintain the number of dog wardens that we need. It’s just kind of crazy.”
State officials, including the Secretary of Agriculture and Auditor General, have called to raise the dog licensing fee since at least 2016.
State lawmakers have introduced multiple bills to raise the fee. The most recent iteration would raise the fee to $8 a year or $80 for a lifetime. It would also raise kennel fees, which have not changed since 1965.
State Sen. Elder Vogel (R-Beaver), who introduced the bill, said the fee is a small price to pay, especially considering how much dog owners spend on their pets. Americans spent $123.6 billion on their pets in 2021, according to the American Pet Products Association. Top breeds alone can cost thousands of dollars each.
“Paying $1,500 [or] $3,000 for one of those Labradoodles or something like that and then you’re worried 10 or 20 bucks for a dog license? Yeah, that’s not an issue,” Vogel said.
The measure also has broad support in the state House.
“But yet to try to raise $2 in a fee, people come unglued,” said State Rep. Dan Moul (R-Adams).
That’s where bipartisan agreement meets political reality: no one wants to be seen voting to raise fees.
“No, it won’t happen. Especially right before an election, it won’t happen,” Moul said. “Maybe in January or February, we can take another stab at it.”
State Sen. Judy Schwank said bills like this take time, but she’s optimistic it will eventually get passed.