Carolina Politics Online

Well, not exactly, but if this hair brained scheme passes the Wake County Commission then Rover and Fluffy are going to be paying their share of the pie. The county public service department, in their infinite wisdom, has recommended that a tax be implemented on every cat and dog in Wake County to the tune of $15 each if they are spayed or neutered and $30 if not. The idea is that the added revenue will pay for additional staffing to the animal control department and to expand the county’s animal shelter. While the intentions here may be all well and good, I don’t think the bureaucrats have sat down to analyze the consequences of implementing this tax.

To begin with, it puts a burden on veterinarians who would be relied on to report all pets coming through their facility to the county. Aside from creating a little discomfort for Dr. Doolittle, this could result in a health risk for pets. Pet owners who have neglected to pay the fee to the county may be prone to further neglect their pet’s health by foregoing a visit to the veterinarian for annual vaccinations or if the pet becomes ill in some way.

Then of course, there is the financial risk to the veterinary hospitals within Wake County. If I lived in Wake County and didn’t want to pay the $30 fee for my two cats, which I wouldn’t, and don’t want the tax man knocking on my door, the solution is rather simple. I start going to a vet outside of Wake County. This isn’t hard to avoid and Wake County vets are now put in a competitive disadvantage.

Probably the most devastating effect of this tax, however, would be the inevitable increase in stray and abandoned animals throughout the area. Poorer people in particular, who in all honesty probably shouldn’t have pets in the first place, who don’t have the money to get their dog or cat fixed certainly aren’t going to cough up $30 for this tax. If they feel the risk of keeping their pet and facing a more stiffer fine down the road is too great, they are simply going to dump the animal off in a field somewhere and abandon it. Not only is this cruel, it’s only going to exacerbate the problem of too many stray animals running around. If Wake County is in need of expanding their current animal shelter apparently the number of animals coming in have outgrown the capabilities of the facility. Why would the county want to create more stray animals to be cared for and eventually put down? Considering that the larger of influx of abandoned pets will cost the county more money to take care of are they really doing any good by initiating this tax to raise more money before all the pets are abandoned in the first place. They may simply just be funding a larger problem that didn’t exist before.

Cause and effect.

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