You got a pet, you gotta license that pet.

That’s the law in the city of Auburn.

But say you didn’t get your pet license throughout the year, and now the renewal date is barking at your heels, and you’re staring down a cash penalty that you’re none too keen on paying.

Well, you’re in luck. Twice a year, the Auburn Valley Humane Society waives the penalty for pet owners who are willing to renew that darned pet license.

“The city approves that kind of a blanket approval, and we do that in April and October,” Phil Hansen, Chief Executive Officer of the AVHS, said on April 1. “It allows people to hop back onto the licensing track and not be penalized.”

The Auburn Valley Humane Society has managed the pet licensing contract for Auburn since 2018, having taken over the duties from a company in Texas when its contract was up.

“We said we’ll go ahead and do that for the city. The license fees go to the city, but that’s how the city ends up paying us our quarterly payment,” said Hansen.

There are options to make licensing happen. There’s online licensing, there’s the shelter thrift store, and then any of the Auburn veterinarians with whom the AVHC has a partnership will sell licenses.

“It’s pretty robust,” Hansen said.

Learn more at www.auburnvalleyhs.org.