€420 million a year is pretty small change in Government expenditure terms, and there would be all the admin which would reduce the net amount further.
it seems a bit pointless if (as that article suggests) it’s a revenue-raising exercise. I can perhaps see the point of registering dangerous species, but don’t all dogs have to be microchipped anyway, so their owners can be identified?
It might cause an adverse effect in people abandoning their dogs if they have to find yet more money to look after them. Vets bills are not cheap and even pet insurance will continue to rise like all other insurances. Its a bit like the vignettes we used to have to buy to put on the car every year, finally cancelled out by the costs of admin over what they actually took in taxes. Maybe as Chris says, those races that are considered a danger might face some sort of tax to pay out in compensation if the dog bites. Daft idea really, will only cause the SPA refuges to have to take in more animals and break a lot of people’s hearts.
As an aside (yes sorry I am drifting the thread just a few posts in) I think that what finally made eliminating car tax vignettes / UK tax discs viable was the availability of ANPR cameras and connecting cops to the internet, so that they could easily check a vehicle’s status out on the road…
I do take your point about the cost of a dog licence putting people off owning one (or causing them to abandon a dog which would be tragic).
I have just Googled and the UK used to have dog licences but they were abolished in 1987 and replaced with legislation to deal with dangerous dogs.
I remember them in the UK but they were tiny amounts which were affordable, governments today are greedy and don’t want their people to have anything that dosn’t cost them.
There’s a lot of unwarranted hysteria and internet petitions about this supposed forthcoming tax. It was informally suggested, but isn’t in the budget currently being set.
Furthermore, it’s unlikely to ever happen because it would be highly unpopular, difficult to enforce and probably the cost of introducing and administering it would be too high to make it worthwhile
OTOH this one seems a much simpler and far more popular money raiser - Rachida Dati, the Minister of Culture is proposing a ‘symbolic’ entry fee to Notre Dame which, according to her, would allow all the churches in Paris and France to be saved.
Germany has a dog tax - simply to know who has a dog and to support communes cleaning up efforts. it is not much for the 1st dog, but rises with each additional pooch. it is policed by the commune/city. On top - dog owners will need the pet micro chipped and are ask to attend training classes.
Dogs in germany are generally well socialized, are accepted in restaurants (not supermarkets) and I have not yet witnessed a dog fight in a public park. Probably will be told about hundreds now …
Just did a quick check - tax is payable to the commune or town. I set and varies by city/state and dog breed.
Normally 120E for 1st pooch, 180 for each more. Listed dogs start at 600E and go up to 1200 for each.
Pensioners/social security beneficiaries are excempt
A crazy idea for all of the above reasons, wouldn’t affect me though as my current dogs, and almost certainly future ones, are not owned by me but by 2 different associations.
But I have to take, as you would expect, exception to the dangerous dog breeds referred to above.
There are no dangerous dog breeds, only some dogs which, like some people, are dangerous.
I’d be in favour. Our crazy neighbour has at least 10 dogs. We don’t see them all as some are chained. The neighbouring hunter has about six - all kept in a tiny cage through most of the year - wretched!
Just been on the news about charging to go in churches here. €5 very small price to pay for going into Notre Dame when the report said it was €36 to go inside Westminster Abbey. People interviewed were all for paying a few euros to help the costs.
It will set a precedent and encourage other churches to do the same, which would be a shame. We were rather horrified in San Sebastian a few weeks ago to find a major Baroque church was charging €3. We didn’t go in.
Churches can be delightful bits of built heritage, and insights into social history too. Several warning lights lit up in our car when we were on holiday near Paunat the beginning of the month. We found a garage that could fit us in immediately so rather than waiting in the garage we went to look the town (Lescar). Which had a cathedral containing this 4th century mosaic in the apse!
It is an important position in an important church. He is Black. He is hunting. He has one leg.
I was born into a home with a dalmation named Mignon (after the French opera). I adored her and she me……
I doubt a dog tax would pass the l’Assemblée, if it even stays on the bill. Would be too unpopular. Statista records show 20% of the population are (declared) dog owners, and there is a healthy supporting industry to provide for them in France. Not to mention, dog abandonment would become catastrophic. This is a non-starter but I would happily pay, and for that of my elderly neighbour, should it mercilessly come about.
First they come for the dogs. Then they come for the cats….
seems like the relatively high rate of dog owners is the reason for taxing dogs?.. curious if Germans/UK govt have actually created a dog tax account that people put money into and owners have a certain level of transparency to see where/how the money is spent on annual basis…
Yes. It’s proposed. And if some of it is used to pay for people to clear up the inordinate quantities of merde that the French allow their dogs to leave all over our pavements, it’s a very good idea.
In any case, it’s no different from the dog licence we used to have to pay for in the UK.