I have two dogs and the expiry dates of their licences were sometime in late August and early September last year.

I managed to renew one of the licences online but not the other as I missed the expiry date by one day and the system did not allow me to submit my renewal application. I sent the renewal form and cheque the following day.

The application was rejected as the licence had expired. The reply from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority indicated that I had to apply for a new licence immediately, and to include a compound fine of $20 for keeping a dog without a valid licence.

The notice was dated Sept 21, 2007, almost three weeks after my submission.

So I submitted the form, certificate of sterilisation and cheque for $34 (licence fee of $14 and $20 compound fine).

I received another notice dated Oct 9, informing me that a copy of the microchip document had not been enclosed and that microchipping is mandatory for all newly licensed dogs, starting from Sept 1.

I wrote in to ask that my dog be exempted from microchipping as this was not an application for a new licence. About two weeks later, I received a reply that my appeal had been turned down, so I got my dog microchipped and re-submitted the documents and the cheque.

My wife wondered if we should have just kept quiet and applied for a new licence for the dog, then perhaps we might not have to pay the fine of $20.

Yes, it is now stated in bold in the new dog-licence notice that no reminder on renewals will be sent.

David Poh Chun Wah