How much do Americans love their dogs?
Enough to spend an annual average of $1,955 per pet to feed them, tend to their medical needs, clothe them, groom them, amuse them, and have them professionally walked, among modern canines' many needs.
But the national passion for pooches seems to wane when it comes time to license them. The large majority of owners do not make the potentially lifesaving purchase of a tag.
There are an estimated 3.2 million pet dogs in Pennsylvania, yet only about 20 percent have the required state license. The same percentage holds in New Jersey, where the canine population is about 1.3 million.
"Nationally, we know compliance is very low," said Inga Fricke, an official of the Humane Society of the United States in Washington. Though the proportion of tagged dogs varies widely from community to community, she said, those with meager means to enforce the law and scant punishment for lawbreakers can have compliance rates in the single digits.
Few places are down as dramatically, though, as Delaware County, home to an estimated 141,000 dogs.
In 2007, license sales there jumped to more than 29,000 after state wardens swept through dog parks looking for scofflaws, county treasurer John A. Dowd said. "Other than that, people don't buy licenses."
Only about 5,500 tags have been bought so far this year.
Starting July 1, having that tag around your dog's neck will become a lot more important in Delaware County.
The Delaware County SPCA, a small nonprofit that has taken in strays for a century, will no longer accept lost animals as it becomes a no-kill facility.
In recent years, the county's municipalities have dropped off about 1,400 stray dogs a year at the Media shelter. But with the deadline almost upon them, most of the 49 towns and townships still have no alternative plan for picking up and holding strays for 48 hours, as the state requires, before the animals can be put up for adoption or destroyed.
The lack of a license drastically lowers the chances of a quick reunion between a lost pup and its family.
Irresponsible owners are at the heart of the licensing problem, said Dave Schlott, animal-control officer for 13 Delaware County municipalities.
In the dozen years he has had the job, Schlott said, he has heard it all. The paperwork got lost. The dog ripped the tag off its collar. The dog hardly ever goes out anyway. And on and on.
