Proposed 'Cat Tax' Draws Criticism

HARTFORD, CT — A bill in the State Senate could lead to a new cat licensing law that has been dubbed a “cat tax” by Republicans.

S.B. 999 would institute a $15 adoption fee for dogs, cats and other domestic animals bought from an animal shelter. The annual licensing fee would be $10 for neutered/spayed dogs and cats and $15 for unneutered/unspayed animals.

The Humane Society of The United States submitted testimony against the bill. Public compliance with cat licensing is low and the licensing fee could lead to more community cats being euthanized, said Annie Hornish, the human society’s Connecticut senior state director.

Hornish argued that community cat caregivers do a service by helping provide for the animals that are difficult to socialize in a home and that they could end up being fined by animal control officers.

“Community cat caregivers do a great public service, largely at private expense, and should be applauded- not handed another financial burden,” Hornish said.

Our Companions Animal Shelter CEO Susan Linker testified that only two percent of all cats in shelters are reclaimed by owners and that cat licensing isn’t good public policy and that cats and dogs are fundamentally different animals

“The most significant of these differences is that there are two general categories of cats where the law is concerned: pet cats—owned cats who are socialized to people and live indoors and/or outdoors, and community cats—unowned cats who are not socialized to people, are unadoptable, and live entirely outdoors,” Linker said.

Cat licensing would increase the number of community cats that are picked up by animal control and since they have no rightful owners would likely end up euthanized because they are difficult to place in a household setting, she said.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities supported both bills as a way for local towns to pay for local animal shelters.

There were around 208,000 dog licenses sold in Connecticut during the 2015/2016 fiscal year, according to data from the state Department of Agriculture.

The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 38 percent of all households own one or more dogs. Connecticut has an estimated 1.36 million households, according to the U.S. Census. By those figures Connecticut’s dog licensing compliance rate is less than 50 percent even if every household only had one dog. In reality it’s lower than that.

Two members of the Connecticut Town Clerks Association testified in opposition of the bills and suggested that there are other dog licensing problems to tackle, particularly the need for a statewide system instead of a town-by-town system.

East Haddam Town Clerk Debra Denette suggested the legislature change the law to implement a statewide licensing system that would eliminate 169 towns form purchasing 169 systems. It could also lead to a was to easily license animals online.

Town Clerk expenses to license dogs already exceed the fees collected. Towns has to mail annual notifications, purchase dog licensing software and mail out tag and license materials.

“It appears to be a gateway to license cats and other domestic animals, which is a HUGE added burden to the town clerk’s office,” said New Britain Town Clerk Mark Bernacki. “Many offices simply do not have the staff for that to occur.”

New Britain has 1,713 licensed dogs and more than 73,000 human residents.

Bernacki also suggested a statewide online licensing platform that animal control officers could also access. This would make it easier for an animal control officer to return a lost dog that crosses over from another town.