That depends entirely on your community. Call the local animal
control office (or whatever its called) and ask.

It varies. Some cities don't have licensing fees. Rural areas don't. You only
have to pay a licensing fee here if you live within city limits.

To get the pet back, you have to put up a deposit. When you've brought back
proof that you've vaccinated, you get it back. YOu then pay for the license.

It's not that formal or highly enforced. The only thing in the world it's for,
here, is just another stop-gap to help ensure every pet is vaccinated against
rabies. That's why you have to show proof of rabies to "buy" the tag. The tag
itself is only five bucks.

Sherry

This exactly is a problem, a big problem. Paying, I mean.
This summer I found myself involved in trying to catch a stray dog in a
school.
It took quite an amount of people, some vets and the police (who backed out
at the end).
We tried to feed the stray dog with some sausage which contained an
anaesthetic. It worked - but the dog escaped - and never reappeared ...
sh***!
And why? Because it escaped from its owners who never paid the annual dog
tax and therefore claimed not to know anything about the dog. They were
afraid of getting a fine.
The love of the money (or the fear of getting fined) was stronger than the
love for the dog - no wonder it walked away! But still it caused a lot of
work for other, voluntary people.

Carola