Common Questions

Please choose the option that best describes the notice you received:

There may be several reasons why you received a bill when you have a current license. We're happy to help with your account information - please fill out this form to begin the process.

We will mail your tag and license receipt within 10 business days from the day we receive your completed license application and payment. Please allow an additional 3-5 business days to receive your tag and receipt in the mail. If we have not received correct payment or proper documentation you will be notified via mail and the processing of your license will be delayed.

You may obtain a replacement tag by sending a check or money order payable to "City of Jacksonville" in the amount of $6.00 to the mailing address below. Please do not send cash. You may include either a copy of your prior license receipt or a note to designate the pet for which you are purchasing a replacement tag. If you need assistance, you may call customer service toll-free at 866-202-9237.

Jacksonville Animal Licensing
c/o PetData
PO Box 141929
Irving, TX 75014-1929

Only one license tag can be active at one time. Requests for multiple tags for the same animal cannot be fulfilled.

Licenses may not be transferred from one owner to another owner or from one pet to another pet. A new license must be purchased. Click here to view your licensing options.

A refund may be available for the following reasons:

1. If a duplicate payment was made for the same pet and the same license term. Be sure to include the pet’s current license tag number if it is available, and as much information as possible regarding your payments.
2. If the pet owner lived outside the city limits at the time of licensing.

Refunds are not available for unused time.

To request a refund, please send your request in writing or via email to Customer Service.

Licenses are valid for 1 year from the date of rabies vaccination and will expire on the anniversary of the rabies vaccination. Licenses will not be valid longer than the expiration of the current rabies vaccination.

The animal shelter for the City of Jacksonville is located at the following address:

Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services
2020 Forest St
Jacksonville, FL
904-630-2489

To report stray animals or for questions unrelated to licensing, please call Jacksonville Animal Control at 904-630-2489.

If the pet that you have found is wearing a City of Jacksonville license tag, you may enter the tag number in the tag search box on the left side of the page. If you need assistance, you may call our office at 866-202-9237.

If an Animal Care Officer finds your pet, and your pet is wearing a current license tag on its collar, Animal Care and Protective Services will contact you. If another citizen finds your pet with its license tag, they may call the phone number on the tag, or lookup the tag number through our online tag search.

If your pet has been lost, Animal Care and Protective Services recommends that you visit the shelter to look for your pet at least every other day. Sheltering of strays for the City is provided by Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services. You may also call 904-630-2489 regarding your pet.

Licensing helps Animal Care and Protective Services identify family pets, should an animal become lost. The fees from licensing are used to care for animals and investigate complaints about stray animals, among other services. Other goals of animal licensing are to promote responsible pet ownership and to reduce the tragedies associated with lost pets and pet overpopulation.

Licensing Ordinance

All dogs, cats and ferrets 4 months of age and older must be vaccinated against rabies and licensed with Jacksonville within 30 days of being in the city.

View the complete City of Jacksonville ordinance

Due Date

Payment for your license is due within 5 days of the expiration of your current license. If you are licensing for the first time, you must purchase a license within 30 days of obtaining a pet over the age of 4 months or within 30 days of moving into Jacksonville.

A late fee is added to the license fee if your license is not purchased by the due date. The late fee is $25.

License Term

Licenses are valid for 1 year from the date of rabies vaccination and will expire on the anniversary of the rabies vaccination. Licenses will not be valid longer than the expiration of the current rabies vaccination.

The City chose to privatize animal licensing beginning in 2024 to promote animal licensing, to increase the cost-effectiveness of the program, and to provide additional services to its citizens.

PetData, Inc., headquartered in Dallas, Texas, provides animal licensing services for municipalities and animal welfare agencies throughout the United States. The company, a member of the National Animal Control Association, has been in business since 1994. PetData’s goals are to increase animal licensing, to reduce animal euthanasia, to educate the community, and to help solve animal control problems.

We at PetData consider the privacy of our clients to be of paramount importance. PetData has never sold information or data to any third-party. PetData does not use any personally identifiable data collected for any purpose other than for those purposes as required by client contracts.

We do not respond to requests for information from non-client individuals or corporations, nor do we release information without the express written consent of our clients. PetData does not and will not share or sell client data with any other parties or make client data publicly available unless authorized by the client or required under a legal subpoena. All data belongs to our clients, and PetData serves only as a custodian for client-owned data.

Groups or individuals requesting data should contact their City or County directly as PetData will only release data to our contracted clients.