Cat and dog licences must be renewed annually. Similar to your vehicle registration, you are assigned a billing month based on the first letter of your surname. Animal & Bylaw Services will mail you a licence renewal notice at the beginning of your billing month. You must renew your cat or dog licence before the last day of your billing month.
Under the 
Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw 23M2006, at three months of age, all cats and dogs residing in Calgary must be licensed with The City of Calgary Animal & Bylaw Services. Failure to licence your cat or dog may result in a $250 penalty.
For information on your license renewal month, please reference the table below.
| January |
B,Y |
|---|
| February |
D,G |
|---|
| March |
A,I,J,U,X |
|---|
| April |
L,V,Z |
|---|
| May |
F,T |
|---|
| June |
E,R |
|---|
| July |
C,N |
|---|
| August |
K,P |
|---|
| September |
S |
|---|
| October |
O,W |
|---|
| November |
H |
|---|
| December |
M,Q |
|---|
Why was I billed for a licence period greater or less than 12 months?
You will receive a renewal notice at the beginning of the month prior to the expiry of your pet's licence and your renewal notice may bill you for 7 - 18 months. The length of this billing period is prorated in order to place you in the correct billing month, based on the first letter of your surname (similar to a vehicle registration renewal). After this first prorated renewal, provided there hasn’t been a surname change, your subsequent licence renewals should be for 12 months only.
Discontinuation of the Licensing Second Notices
Historically pet owners have received a mailed Notice/Invoice from Animal & Bylaw Services 30 days prior to the expiration of their pet’s licence. If payment wasn’t received, a Second Notice was mailed 10 to 15 days after the licence expired.
Starting February 15, 2012, Animal & Bylaw Services is no longer mailing a Second Notice. This is a result of our commitment to create a more environmentally friendly and cost efficient invoicing process.
As a result, pet owners will only receive one Notice through the mail 30 days prior to the licence expiration date.
Pet owners can participate in helping Animal & Bylaw Services create greater efficiencies by calling 3-1-1 and having their email addresses added to their pet’s file. In the future we hope to be able to use an email rather than mail process.
Thank you for your assistance. Licensing helps Animal & Bylaw Services reunite lost pets with their owners.
