Elk Grove will no longer require dog and cat ID tags

Elk Grove Village pet owners won't be required to buy licenses for their dogs and cats anymore.

As it turns out, many haven't been anyway.

Since 1976, Elk Grove has required dog and cat owners to buy the $5 village identification tags that, in the past, officials believed would help reunite lost pets with their owners.

But people have largely stopped buying the tags - and the village hasn't largely enforced the rule - as microchipping has become more common. That led the village board this week to repeal the local licensing requirement.

"It's an outdated, antiquated system," Mayor Craig Johnson said. "Microchips have worked. They're much more efficient."

Because not enough people were buying village tags, the program actually cost the police department more that it was taking in since tags were still being produced, Johnson said.

Dog and cat owners, however, must still have their pets vaccinated against rabies and get a tag as proof, as required by Cook County.