Gimme A Break! A Tax Breaks For Pets, That Is

The ASPCA figures it costs an average of $670  a year to care for a cat; dog care is a further $200. If you’re in my household, that’s chicken feed.

Memphis

Memphis is available for adoption on petfinder.com.

With nine cats and three dogs (all rescues, of course) those figures increase exponentially. One of our cats alone cost nearly $3000 in vet bills last year. Several of our pets are on special (and very expensive) diets. Thing is, the rescues we keep are the ones that are otherwise unadoptable and that often comes with a higher price tag because they’re usually the older or health-challenged ones.

Tank

Tank is available for adoption on petfinder.com.

So hurray for Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Michigan and veteran actor and animal lover, Robert Davi for collaborating on a money-saving idea for pet owners – tax breaks for pets.

For years I’ve lamented at tax time that we couldn’t deduct our pets as others deduct their kids. After all, to my husband and I our pets are our children. So I was encouraged to hear about a bill doing the rounds on Capitol Hill that promotes a tax break for pets of $3500 per person for pet care expenses.

It was Davi who came up with the idea of deductions for pets as a way to help promote pet ownership and he who approached McCotter to craft the bill and the HAPPY Act (Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years) was born.

There’s little chance that the bill will go anywhere and I’d be surprised if its proponents truly thought otherwise. Personally, I think tax simplification and reduction across the board is what we really need but if things bill brings any publicity to the plight of abused and homeless pets, then I’m all for it.

Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.
~ Josh Billings