User talk:Diane Bandy

Dog License or Dog Tax tag collecting is a relatively new hobby because licenses (licence in Australia and U.K.) were issued on an annual basis and were usually discarded.There was no use for them after their expiration. It is not surprising then that only a few from the 1800's or early 1900's are around anymore.

Many tags are found nowadays by metal detecting enthusiasts just for the thrill of uncovering treasure from the ground or for selling to serious collectors.

Paper License certificates and applications are highly prized by collectors if their age, region and Dog Vignettes appeal to hobbyists. Many pre-1900 paper licenses have appeared from New England areas: Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusettes. Some as early as 1860 are known to exist.

Few tags from the 1930s and earlier are known from Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas - probably because rural areas would not have enforced it unless hunting dogs needed special tags. Enforcement of tag wearing in the state of Pennsylvania has always been strong and probably why the state is known for such an abundance of kept tags, those attached to displays or left on collars.

Occasionally one will see a fancy dog collar with an engraved name plate. This will include owners name and address (may not offer a state name on it though) In addition, some owners would handstamp the dogs' license number on it. This nameplate is not an official city license! It may have just been included in case the tag were to become lost. I will spare you the unfortunate details of canines who were picked up, unlicensed and unclaimed........ Those who valued their pets would have licensed them. This is basically true today.

The main reason for licensing dogs was to subsidize farmers from livestock who were injured or killed by loose dogs. Sadly, these tax monies also went toward funding the poor and children instead of a protection fund for canines. There were Humane Societies in the late 1800s, but resources were few and public money never aided them. Religious organizations aided the poor and children, but were not known for helping animals. It would have been thoughtful if the politicians of the past, used part of the dog tax dollars to actually help dogs

To tax a dog seems wrong and people still complain about this. After all, a dog is a living subject and not an object, right? Well according to most American states, they are considered property.Many animal advocates, activists and plain old dog and cat lovers are protesting this definition.

So what is the difference between a Tax and a License? The word tax is used less and less today. In Pa. the licenses used to be called Tax, however people have been outspoken about paying a tax on their dog. Now, it is called a license, but residents still believe it is just another way to nickel and dime the public. A treasurer in South Dakota where cats and dogs were licensed told me that they issue licenses and that a license was proof that a dog had his/her rabies vaccination {which had to be proved upon issuance by a signed veterinary statement.} In Pennsylvania, we are not required to prove that our dogs have had their rabies vaccines (although it is state law than one be given every 3 years)so does this mean that we are actually funding a tax?

Part of this money goes back into animal control, to the treasures office, hiring county dog wardens, promoting and advertising the need for licensing and secretarial staff required to document these forms. There is an animal abuse relief fund associated with Pennsylvania's licensing bureau, but it is in the form of an additional donation from pet owners

Dog licenses are also called dog tax tags or dog registry (Those from Chicago will typically have the word registry on them)

Value of tags depends on rarity, condition and on region and country that they are from. Currently, rare pre 1900 American tags, rare pre 1900 German tags and ornate ones from Austria are commanding top dollar and so are some very early ones from Canada. Age alone is not an indicator of value. Many long term collectors have hoarded tags and they will use them as traders.Although the buyer or person accepting the trade may be none the wiser.

Some tags in the early 1900s (1900-1906) can command some very high prices."Unique" Numeral tags are currently doing very well on ebay. Chicago, Illinois Numerals are very common and although attractive, they do not fetch top dollar anymore because many collectors already have them.

If you decide that a large worldwide audience needs to view your tag that you wish to sell, here is one strategy-List the date, city, state and/or county and the words DOG TAX & LICENSE in your title. NEVER use ONLY the words dog tag because this is too general and your listing will be competing with hundreds of military dog tags, rock star dog tags etc.Ebay allows 55 characters in their titles. Use all of them wisely, this is how collectors like myself will search for them.

If you find a tag with the DATE on it which occupies the majority of the shape of the tag, collectors call this a NUMERAL LICENSE. If the date is stamped in the tag (incuse)or raised in a rather LARGE fashion compared to the serial number and text, then you are also holding what is called a NUMERAL dog license.

Pennsylvania became a state on December 12th, 1787. The state of Pa. has offered many early tags for the collector in antique stores and on eBay. There is a in Pa. that has yielded hoards of tags from the 19th century: 1897 Wilkes-Barre is known to have over 25 known tags. There is a very attractive Kittaning and Erie tag- both from the pre 1900's that are from Pennsylvania. In this Keystone state their county tags began issuance in 1907.

Tags from the 1800's in America will very rarely offer abbreviations or name of state. Nebraska has 3 known tags with the state name included. On the other hand, a tag that simply says CLINTON on it could be one of about 30 U.S. states. This type of tag with limited info on it is considered a Maverick. Tags with initials like CDT, CLT, CTP offer the collector little information and these tags are Generic ones. These have the least value of the pre 1900 tags.

The hobby of dog license collecting is a bit threatened due to states that are no longer issuing them (Kentucky), by microchips that offer more information than a license and by electronic tracking collars.The U.K stopped issuing licenses a short while ago because they weren't charging enough to pay for expenses of issuing them.. In America, they may have just raised the price of licenses!

A dog license which is used alone is a poor form of identification because it does not directly offer name and phone number of a veterinarian or the dog owner. The phone numbers on licenses are those of the city treasurer and they keep very limited hours and are closed on weekends and holidays. The promoting of dog licenses today is a very tough sell. The public questions it, as they should.

I maintain a collectors hobby site along with private club (DLTC) which is $25 per year no matter what country you live in. Please visit www.DogLicense.org and click on top bar linked pages. The "Dog Bytes" page contains free articles, photos, on line listing evaluations, a chance to donate articles, monetary contributions and photos. We have a team of experts on board including a miniature dog lock specialist and a dog medal cataloger from the Netherlands.

I am color photo-documenting all pre 1900 dog licenses and will gladly evaluate your tag if I am first sent a color zerox or scan of both sides of tag (Tripling the size on a copy machine will help those tags which have dark patina or corrosion that obscures their stampings.)

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