Animal Adoption Tax Credit Could Be “Purrfect” Solution

With the state Legislature returning to session this week, there is no shortage of major hot-button issues simmering on the burner.

Depending on who you ask, we could be dealing with any or all of the following in no particular order: Marcellus Shale policy, school vouchers, transportation funding, legislative and Congressional redistricting and deciding whether it makes fiscal sense to sell the state liquor stores.

Each of these issues alone is the catalyst for a flurry of lobbying and outreach from constituents and interest groups with strong feelings one way or another.

Add in the seemingly-endless saga of property tax reassessment, and there isn’t much room left at the end of the day to pursue legislation that may be important but lacks the spotlight of these sexier, big-ticket items.

Ideas can sit for months or even years because we simply don’t have the time, resources or energy to develop proposals, draft legislation and build support. But there was one idea in my stack of potential legislation I have been working on for months that I simply could not ignore any longer.

The economic downturn and recent flooding have caused a dramatic increase in the number of abandoned and homeless pets statewide. That’s why I have introduced House Bill 1765, legislation to give a $300 tax credit to people who adopt a dog or cat from a Pennsylvania animal shelter.

My bill would provide an incentive for people to choose their pet from an animal shelter, helping them with the expense of caring for it and giving thousands of homeless dogs and cats a new life.

According to the the American Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty, the first year of owning a small dog costs about $1500. With the state sitting on a budget surplus of more than $500 million, this tax credit would put money back into the economy while ensuring that our furry friends get the love and care they deserve.

I was startled at some of the negative response to this legislation, mainly a small segment of people who firmly believed the tax credit would be abused by people who would adopt a bunch of animals just to get the credit and then dump the pets. Anyone who has ever adopted a pet from a shelter knows how silly such an idea is.

Setting aside for a minute the massive effort someone would have to go to just to get a relatively small state tax credit, shelters conduct a comprehensive evaluation of someone who wants to adopt an animal.

The system isn’t like calling and ordering a pizza—the animal isn’t guaranteed to be delivered to your door with an order of breadsticks in 30 minutes or less with no questions asked.

People who work with shelters and rescue groups are typically volunteers who care deeply about animals and would never hand them over to be harmed. After all, keeping the pets safe and secure is the entire reason these groups exist.

Anyone who really thinks this is a bad idea solely because they consider it a system ripe for scamming is uneducated, ignorant and lacks compassion for defenseless living creatures.

Such criticisms really drive home the unnecessarily negative and selfish view held by a small but overly vocal minority. If an idea doesn’t directly benefit them personally, it’s immediately labeled stupid, corrupt or wasteful. Yet, in the same breath, the same people will call and complain about feral cats roaming their neighborhoods.

I don’t deny that we have major problems in many parts of the state, and we should be working to address them. But just because we have big problems, it doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye to the smaller ones, especially when they are problems we can actually fix.

I have been working on this issue at the statewide level with the Humane Society, and also locally with groups such as Pet Search, a no-kill animal rescue service that shelters and actively seeks homes for pets in southwestern Pennsylvania.

These groups, and lots more like them across Pennsylvania, are tapped out when it comes to resources. They rely mainly on donations and fundraising, and the money is going down at the same time theneed is skyrocketing.

This is a bill that can help solve a real problem in a simple way. It incentivizes responsible behavior and saves lives. Please support HB 1765.