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Town of Hanover 2021 Dog Licenses Now Available

Posted on: January 20, 2021 - 10:06am

Hanover Town Clerk Catherine Harder-Bernier announced today that 2021 Town of Hanover dog licenses are now finally available online, via the front door mail slot, or by mail.  Due to COVID-19 illnesses and related quarantines at the manufacturing plant, dog tag production was delayed several weeks.  Residents are kindly asked to be patient regarding the receipt of their tags while the backlog of several hundred applications is cleared. 

The licensing period is January 1, 2021, through March 31, 2021, and a $10 late fee applies beginning April 1, 2021.  All dogs over the age of 6 months are required by law to be licensed.  The license is good for one year and costs $10 for spayed or neutered dogs, and $15 for intact dogs.  Residents over the age of 70 will be given a free license for their vaccinated dog upon proof of the owner’s age.

In an effort to make this process easy for residents, there are several ways to license your dog. 

  • If you use Hanover's Online Pet Licensing System and are simply re-registering an existing dog, you can retrieve your account by entering your first name, last name, house number and then by selecting a street name from the drop-down menu. You must enter the information exactly how it was registered on the system in order to retrieve your account. If found, you have to confirm your pet(s) name and then you can enter an email and create a password. This will save you having to upload existing rabies or spay/neuter certificates!  It will also prevent duplicate and therefore confusing records.
  • Residents may also fill out the dog license application that is found on the Town Clerk’s section of the Town of Hanover’s website.  This is the same application that was included in the census mailing this year.  Completed forms may be mailed in with your payment, proof of current rabies vaccination, and proof of spaying or neutering (if you have not submitted that information previously) to the Town Clerk’s Office, 550 Hanover Street, Hanover, MA  02339, and your tag will be mailed back to you. 
  • Due to locally high rates of COVID-19, dog licenses are not available in-person at this time.  Residents wishing to drop off their paperwork may simply put it in an envelope in the front door mail slot along with a check payable to the Town of Hanover.  Again, in all cases, your dog’s tag will be mailed back to you.

Unlicensed dogs are subject to a minimum of a $25 fine, with an additional $25 fine if unleashed and another fine of $50 if unvaccinated for rabies.  Don’t delay; get your dog’s license today!

If you have questions or need more information about the licensing of your dog in Hanover, please call the Town Clerk’s Office at (781) 826-5000, ext. 1079, or send an e-mail to clerk.staff@hanover-ma.gov.