Local News in Brief : Countywide : Free Licenses Asked for Dogs That Aid Disabled

Owners of dogs trained to aid the hearing impaired and the physically disabled would not have to pay a county dog license fee under a proposal that will be considered next week by the Board of Supervisors.

The proposal, offered by 3rd District Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, would put such dogs in the same category as guide dogs for the blind, which have been exempt from county dog license fees since 1975. “Since (the guide dog) exemption was approved . . . the use of dogs to provide assistance to other types of disabled or handicapped individuals has become widespread,” Vasquez said.

Leonard M. Liberio, director of animal control for the county, said the measure “is something we have been thinking about for several years.”

The county currently charges $10 for licenses for spayed or neutered dogs and $20 annually for licenses for other dogs. Last year it licensed 185,448 dogs in unincorporated areas of the county and in 18 cities that have animal control contracts with the county.

Vasquez said in his letter that he didn’t think the proposed exemptions would lead to a significant financial loss to the county. Only 25 people currently are exempted from the license fee, he and Liberio said.