By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Buying a license for your dog isn't only the law, it also increases your chances of getting Fido back if he wanders off.

Barbara Morgenstern of Wyoming, center, with her children, 12-year-old Beth Krumbein, left, and 11-year-old Scott Krumbein, makes sure that her Australian Shepherd, Yogi, has current tags. (Meggan Booker photo)

The deadline for buying or renewing dog licenses in Ohio is Jan. 31, after which the cost doubles. In Hamilton County, that means an increase from $13 to $26.

Still, it can be a good investment. Dog tags allow someone who finds a lost pooch to track down the owner through the tag number. Area county auditors offer this service through their Web sites and automated phone numbers.

Licenses "help people comply with the law but also provide a service that helps get pets back to their owners," Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes said.

If a lost dog doesn't have tags, it often ends up at the animal shelter, where the owner must pay a fee to reclaim it.

Barbara Morgenstern of Wyoming has seen firsthand how effective this service can be. Three times now, she has come across a lost dog with tags, called a county phone number on the tag, punched in the dog's license number and gotten its owner's name and phone number from an automated voice.

"There is so much waste in county government, and this has been so cost-effective," she said.

One hound had wandered from his Springfield Township home into Morgenstern's neighborhood on a particularly hot summer day. The hound's owners, grateful she found him, arrived at her house with tears in their eyes and cookies in their hands.

Morgenstern faithfully renews her license for Yogi, her Australian shepherd, every year.

"It would be a family tragedy," she said, if he disappeared.

License info

Hamilton County: Visit www.hamiltoncountyauditor.org or call 946-4106. Licenses are $13 per dog until Jan. 31.

Butler: Visit www.butlercountyohio.org/auditor/dog_licensing.cfm or call 887-3160. Cost until Jan. 31: $14.

Clermont: Visit www.clermontauditor.org or call 732-7150. Cost until Jan. 31: $10.

Warren: Visit www.co.warren.oh.us/Auditor/ or call 695-1240. Cost until Jan. 31: $15.

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E-mail candrews@enquirer.com