THE cost of a dog licence is to rise in April from the current £16 to £20.
Concessionary rates of £10 (currently £8) will continue to apply.
Answering questions in Tynwald, Agriculture Food and Fisheries Minister Phil Gawne MHK said reduced rates applied to dogs which had been neutered and those owned by pensioners.
In addition he said guide dogs and police dogs were exempt from the charges.
Responding to questions from speaker Steve Rodan, who queried whether the dog licence system was worth keeping, and Alex Downie MLC, Mr Gawne said there were currently 6,484 dog licences issued, of which 1,743 were for dogs owned by pensioners.
‘I can’t say how many unlicensed dogs there are but this is something the dog wardens are looking into,’ he said.
He added the dog licence system for the island was administered on behalf of the government by the post office.
Total revenue raised from issuing dog licences in 2010 to 2011 came to £64,832. Most of this went to the post office for administering the system but it yielded profits of £3,241 to the government.