(a) Each owner or keeper of a licensed dog shall keep around its neck or body a collar or harness of leather or other suitable material, to which shall be securely attached a tag or plate issued to such person by the town clerk. If any such tag or plate is lost, the owner or keeper of such dog shall forthwith secure a substitute tag or plate from the town clerk, at a cost of fifty cents.

(b) The town clerk of each town shall order a sufficient number of such tags or plates from the commissioner, who shall furnish the same at a cost of five cents each, which cost shall be paid by the town on the approval of the town clerk. Any balance of the moneys received by the commissioner after deducting the cost of the tags, the expenses incidental to their distribution to the town clerks and the expenses incidental to the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, shall be accounted for by the commissioner to the Comptroller. The design and the shape of such tags or plates shall be changed each year, and such tags or plates for each year shall be of uniform design and material throughout the state. Any dog found roaming at large upon any public highway or common or upon the premises of any person other than its owner, without a tag as provided in this section, shall be presumed to be an unlicensed dog.