Moorhead Police Volunteers will be on hand every Saturday until Christmas to help residents purchase pet licenses for their cats and dogs. In this 2021 photo, volunteer Ruthie Johnson staffs the table in the Center Mall, where licenses will be again sold from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. this Saturday. File (Photo/Moorhead Police Department.)

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Here’s the perfect Christmas gift for Lassie and Tiger: a shiny new 2023 Moorhead pet license.

Not likely to make your four-legged best friend bark or purr with joy? Maybe not. But it will bring a smile to the Moorhead Police Department’s community service officers, who are charged with scooping up lost house pets and strays and then reuniting them with their humans.

Members of the Moorhead Police Volunteers will be on hand every Saturday before Christmas to offer pet owners a convenient opportunity to purchase the licenses, which are required by law. The $5 licenses provide a record of the animals’ owners and confirm that the pets have up to date rabies vaccinations.

Volunteers began their four-week outreach last Saturday at Muscatell Subaru. On Saturday, Dec. 3, they’ll be on hand at the Moorhead Center Mall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Additional dates are Dec. 10 at Cash Wise and Dec. 17 at Running’s.

“The volunteers make it easier for many residents to get their licenses,” explains community policing director Leann Wallin. “They can always stop in at the police department, but that’s harder for working people.” The department’s public hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

“They can also license their pets online,” she adds, “but that costs a little more.” Online registration at www.cityofmoorhead.com/departments/police/citizen-resources/dog-and-cat-licenses includes a $2 shipping/handling fee.

Community service officer Harvey Moos emphasizes that the best part of complying with the city’s licensing requirement is the assurance that he and partner Jay Siebels will be able to get your wandering companion home.

“If we pick up a dog or cat wearing a collar with a license, we try to contact their owner first,” he explains. “If we get an answer, we just take the animal home.” The license also simplifies the next step if the animal has bitten someone (a very rare occurrence, he adds); it allows the officer to immediately determine whether there might be danger of infection.

If the wanderer is unlicensed, however, or the owner can’t be reached immediately, retrieving it becomes more complicated. The officers take it to the city pound at F-M Animal Hospital. To reclaim it, the owner must first pay a fine and buy a license at the Law Enforcement Center to pay a fine, then cross town to collect the pet from the pound, located at 3803 Eighth St. S.

The pets the officers collect are generally kept in lock-up at the pound for eight days, including the weekend. If not claimed, they go to an animal shelter — felines to Cats Cradle and canines to Homeward Bound Animal Shelter or another specializing in dogs.

Pet owners sometimes are confident that their furry friends don’t need licensing because they’re limited to life indoors. “Wrong,” Moos says. “Indoor-only pets get out all the time. People answer the door for just a minute … and the cat sneaks out. Kids are playing and forget to close the fence. Dogs jump out of cars. You can never be sure your pet is always going to follow the rules.”