All dogs in Massachusetts must be licensed on an annual basis by the owners or keepers at the address the dog is kept, and licenses run for a calendar year. Please be aware that the dog's rabies vaccination must be up to date for the dog to be licensed. Failure to license your dog can result in a $50 fine being issued and, eventually, court action being taken against you.
Licensing requirements are posted on the Annual Town Census sent to all residents every December. There are also various local newspaper articles reminding people to license their dogs, and of the need to do so to avoid fines. In June of every year the Town Clerk sends out letters to all dog owners/keepers whose dogs are still unlicensed informing them to do so or face enforcement action. After that, the Department of Natural Resources steps in.
At the end of the Summer of 2011, 545 letters were sent out by the DNR to dog owners who had not licensed their dogs (669 dogs total). These letters contain very specific instructions on what needs to be done, and that failure to license their dogs or respond will automatically result in enforcement action. Several weeks later, phone calls were made to 221 owners/keepers who had a phone number listing and had still not liocensed their dogs. Even after all that, with numerous deadlines having passed, 104 owners/keepers did not license their 126 dogs and $50 citations were issued, which included another letter with very specific instructions on what to do to avoid court action. Of those citations, about 60 of them had action taken against them in Falmouth District Court - All for not paying the $7 or $10 to license their dog at the begining of the year or after being told to do so.
Don't let this happen to you!
