2012 Massachusetts General Laws
PART I ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT(Chapters 1 through 182)
TITLE XX PUBLIC SAFETY AND GOOD ORDER
CHAPTER 140 LICENSES
Section 137 Registration and licensing of dogs

Section 137. A person who at the commencement of a license period is, or who during any license period becomes, the owner or keeper of a dog six months old or over which is not duly licensed, and the owner or keeper of a dog when it becomes six months old during a license period, shall cause it to be registered, numbered, described and licensed until the end of such license period, and the owner or keeper of a dog so registered, numbered, described and licensed during any license period, in order to own or keep such dog after the beginning of the succeeding license period, shall, before the beginning thereof, cause it to be registered, numbered, described and licensed for such period. The registering, numbering, describing and licensing of a dog, if kept in Boston shall be in the office of the police commissioner or if kept in any other town in the office of the clerk thereof.

No town clerk or, in Boston, the police commissioner, shall grant such license for any dog unless the owner thereof provides such town clerk or, in Boston, the police commissioner, either a veterinarian’s certification that such dog has been vaccinated in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred and forty-five B, or has been certified exempt from such provision as hereinafter provided, or a notarized letter from a veterinarian that a certification was issued or a metal rabies tag bearing an expiration date indicating that such certification is still in effect.

A dog licensing official may grant an exemption from the provisions of section one hundred and forty-five B for any dog which has not yet attained the age of six months, any dog which the local board of health, for a specified period of time, declared exempt upon presentation of a veterinarian’s certificate stating that because of an infirmity, other physical condition or regimen of therapy, that inoculation is thereby deemed inadvisable, or any dog in transit, or dog brought into the commonwealth, temporarily, for the sole purpose of showing in dog shows or exhibition.

The license shall be in a form prescribed by the director, upon a blank to be furnished, except in the county of Suffolk, by the county in which the town is located, and shall be subject to the condition expressed therein that the dog which is the subject of the license shall be controlled and restrained from killing, chasing or harassing live stock or fowls. The owner of any dog may add descriptive words, not over ten in number, upon the license form to indicate the color, breed, weight and special markings of the licensed dog. The owner or keeper of a licensed dog shall cause it to wear around its neck or body a collar or harness of leather or other suitable material, to which shall be securely attached a tag in a form prescribed by the director, and upon which shall appear the license number, the name of the town issuing such license and the year of issue. Such tags shall be furnished in the same manner as the license blanks, and if any such tag shall be lost the owner or keeper of such dog shall forthwith secure a substitute tag from the town clerk or, in Boston, from the police commissioner, at a cost of ten cents which, if received by a town clerk, shall be retained by him unless otherwise provided by law. This section shall not apply where it is otherwise provided by law, nor shall it apply to a person having a kennel license.