Cambridge, Massachusetts

6.04.020 – Dogs—License required—Fee.

Every dog six months old or over shall be licensed pursuant to G.L. c. 140, § 137. As proof that the dog has been spayed or neutered, the owner or keeper shall present to the Director of the Animal Commission (“Director”) or his or her designee a certificate of the registered veterinarian who performed the operation. Effective February 10, 2025, the fee for such license shall, except as otherwise provided, be twenty dollars for a spayed or neutered dog and thirty dollars for a dog that is not spayed or neutered. If the Director or his or her designee is satisfied that the certificate of the veterinarian who performed the operation cannot be obtained, he or she may accept in lieu thereof a sworn statement of a veterinarian registered and practicing in the Commonwealth, describing the dog, and stating that he or she has examined the dog and that, in his or her opinion, it has been spayed or neutered. Pursuant to G.L. c. 140, § 139, no fee shall be charged for a license issued under this section for a service animal as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act or regulations promulgated thereunder or for dog owners aged 70 years or older. No part of the fee shall be refunded because of the subsequent death, loss, spaying, castration, removal from the Commonwealth or other disposal of the dog. Nor shall any part of the fee paid by mistake be refunded.