MHUG 2023 ConferencePet ownership comes with joys and responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is registering and licensing pets with the local municipality. Pet licensing software simplifies the process for both municipality employees and pet parents.
How Pet Licensing Software Works for Municipalities
Across the United States, more than 65 million households owned one or more dogs in 2023, making dogs the most popular pet nationwide. Cats come second in this statistic with more than 46 million households owning at least one. No matter where people live in the country, chances are they or their neighbors own a pet.
In most places, owning a cat or dog legally requires the pet to be registered with the local municipality. Pet licensing is about more than keeping track of the number of dog or cat owners in a community. Licensing also helps keep communities safe by tracking important data, such as rabies vaccination information.
Downsides of the Traditional Approach
Traditionally, pet licensing and registration required owners make an onsite visit to the licensing office and register their pet in person, often after making an appointment. Municipality employees not only had to register and license pets, but they also needed to keep track of renewals, outstanding bills, and unpaid registration fees.
Tracking pets and owners made for often time-consuming work when addresses or pet ownership changed. Employees needed to ensure records were kept up to date with changes applied in a timely manner. Pet licensing also put demands on the time of pet owners. Making appointments to register pets in person, pay fees, or update existing data could get tricky.
Municipality Software Simplifies Pet Licensing
Municipality software like Mitchell Humphrey’s FastTrackGov (FTG) was designed with one overarching goal in mind: allowing communities to connect to their citizens more easily and conveniently. Automating pet licensing allows communities to support their citizens by making it more manageable to stay on top of pet registrations and licenses.
Rather than requiring in-person appointments, FTG’s pet licensing application allows pet owners to interact with their municipality’s licensing department at their convenience.
Benefits of Pet Licensing Software for Municipalities
Pet licensing software improves the workflow of a municipality’s licensing employees in several ways.
First, employees benefit from being able to review and approve license applications faster than they could with the traditional approach to pet licensing. Rather than pet owners needing to make appointments during restricted opening hours, pet licensing software allows pet owners to upload all relevant information.
When municipality employees start their day, they find previously submitted applications on their dashboard. Instead of collecting information from pet owners, employees simply review the application in front of them. If everything is complete, the application can be approved on the spot.
If there is any missing information, municipality staff can notify pet owners with a few clicks and request additional details.
Second, pet licensing software allows municipalities to keep rabies vaccination data in one place. All employees need to do is upload and save any relevant details. Gone are the days when tracking rabies vaccinations required photocopying multiple papers and sharing them across different departments.
Thanks to FTG pet licensing software, municipalities can organize all rabies and other pet vaccination documentation in one central location with digital records. No matter how many departments need to access or share the information, they all access the same high-quality, original record that is kept in a safe place.
Third, pet licensing software allows local governments to gain better insight into pet ownership in their community. Aside from analyzing license volume, expected revenues from pet licensing, and understanding the average number of pets per owner, municipalities can do more with the data at their fingertips.
For example, understanding if the number of pets is growing in a community simplifies decisions like whether there is a need for pet-specific facilities such as dog parks. Perhaps an increasing number of dogs in a town could also prompt the city government to introduce additional trash cans for dog refuse and more.
Fourth, FTG pet licensing software automates impending license renewals. The software can also be set up to support late payment reminders. By automating all these tasks municipalities are freeing up considerable amounts of staff time.
Benefits of Pet Licensing for Owners
Implementing pet licensing software not only benefits municipalities, but there are direct advantages for pet owners, too.
First and foremost, gaining access to pet licensing services online increases the level of convenience for pet owners nationwide. Pet owners can simply submit their applications when it is convenient for them. In case of missing information, they receive an electronic notification letting them know what else needs to be submitted. No one loses time in the process, and applications are completed faster than ever before. License renewals are just as straightforward with pet owners receiving automated notifications when their license is about to run out. As a result, missed renewals are rare.
Second, citizens can access their community’s pet licensing system proactively to check when renewals are due. There is no need to wait for reminders to be sent. If personal details or licensing requirements are changing, members of the community can submit questions and receive responses as well as completed licenses in a far shorter time compared to the traditional approach.
Third, FTG pet licensing software facilitates simple and convenient online payments for pet licenses. Pet owners avoid the risk of falling behind on licensing fees and incurring potential late payment penalties. Municipalities can use the revenue generated more efficiently as administration costs decrease.
Additional Capabilities
Earlier in this article we touched on the close relationship between pet licensing and community safety. A solid approach to pet licensing allows municipalities across the U.S. to protect their population from rabies or other illnesses that are closely linked to animals.
While most pet owners are highly responsible and ensure their pets’ vaccinations are up to date, it is only human to miss a vet appointment and fall behind schedule. That is when pet licensing software helps by connecting pet owners, veterinarians, and community administrators.
What Makes FastTrackGov Unique
FastTrackGov was developed with both municipalities and their citizens in mind. FTG is an on-demand, cloud-based solution that helps communities of all sizes create strong connections between them and local government employees.
The philosophy behind the software is simple. By making government services more accessible to citizens, for example through online citizen services, it becomes easier for municipalities and residents to interact. Being able to follow the progress of applications, licensing, and other processes online increases transparency in local governments.
Software solutions like FTG also simplify communications between governments and citizens. Additional information requests and submissions only require a few clicks. Submitting updated information can be done in minutes rather than requiring time-consuming appointments.
For citizens and employees, FTG ushered in a new era of convenience by allowing residents to access municipality services online. Saying that, the goal is not to remove the all-important human touch from interactions between municipality employees and residents. The opposite is the case. By freeing up employees’ time spent completing repetitive tasks, FTG allows them to focus on those tasks that require actual human input.
Final Thoughts
Automating pet licensing can potentially benefit pet lovers across the country. Most communities require some type of pet licensing, and gathering information from vets and pet owners can be time-consuming for municipality staff.
Replacing traditional pet licensing processes with an innovative approach based on technology tailored to the needs of municipalities reduces both the time required to complete the process and the associated costs.
Citizens benefit by having easy access to up-to-date licensing requirements. They can also submit new applications or renewals at a convenient time. Municipality employees benefit from having all the necessary information to process an application in one place as well as being able to ask for additional details easily. As a result, processing pet licensing applications through software solutions like FTG takes no time at all.
Is your community ready to simplify and streamline pet licensing? Contact our team today for more information or schedule a demo now.