Could you tax pet shop purchase of animals?

[Djakarta]

What if there could be a luxury tax applied to purchased animals from pet stores? PetCo could sell guinea pigs for $ 29.00 but the consumer would be hit with a fixed fee or tax in addition to that price. A BIG fee- let's say $100 per animal. So the casual, impulse purchase at PetCo would be tempered by a big price tag. The tax would be routed to support shelters and rescues. Now if you wanted to adopt an animal from a shelter or a rescue- read a NON-PROFIT- organization-you would not need to pay the tax, just the adoption fee. People who purchased from the pet stores would at least be making a contribution to rescues and shelters through the tax. If PetCo found it completely unprofitable to offer breeder sourced animals for sale, perhaps, as with cats and dogs, it would turn to only sponsoring rescue sourced adoptions. The stores will still make a profit because there would still be a demand for their supplies. You'd think pet stores would go crazy for the idea of C&C cages and the tons of bedding that go with them! Let's take it one step further- in order to adopt from a rescue you must be a licensed- you must have completed a training program which shows that you have been instructed in the proper care for your animal. Courses could be offered hands on at the shelter or rescue, or online.

[Solebomber]

I think that would go a long ways towards the overpopulation of guinea pigs, but I think it would eventually almost eliminate guinea pigs as pets in the long term. Short term with the licensing idea I think it would create a situation in which your average adopter would decide not to get a guinea pig as a pet - too many hoops to jump through and shelters wouldn't be able to adopt out the guinea pigs - maybe the dedicated few Cavy lovers would go through the process but I would guess that the average person would decide not to get a guinea pig at all.

[Djakarta]

It all hinges on how you define the terms "average person" and "average adopter". If you define "average person" as the person who makes the impulse buy at a pet store- a person who has good intentions and thinks that they are helping the animal, but who has no idea of how to care for a guinea pig, then I don't think it would be bad if that person decided not to purchase or adopt. I think there would be alot less pigs surrendered if the only people adopting were the "dedicated few". Now, there is nothing to prevent the "average person" from becoming one the "dedicated few" but I think the process requires that person trying to educate themselves. At that point the person becomes an "average adopter". How stringent the rescues wish to make the adoption process is up to them. The specific details of a person's home: size, types of other pets, age of children, hours pets would be left alone, and financial status- determine the suitability of a potential adopter. I realize that, in my case, the ages of my children are a determining factor. I cannot provide a suitable home for some of the piggies I would love to adopt. I rely on the people running the rescue to help me find suitable matches. This limits my choices, but it helps provide a better chance at matching the animals in the rescues with a permanent home.

[naturestee]

I think the licence would discourage new potential owners from getting their first cavy. It would turn adopting a cavy into a difficult-to-get priviledge. And why would I dedicate myself to an animal species that I've never spent time with? Where's the draw here?

I highly doubt that restricting the adopters would decrease the surrenders. Ever talked to some of the people that surrender their pets, especially cavies and rabbits, to kill shelters? We got bored with him, he's not fun, he pees on the floor (not spayed/neutered), we're moving tomorrow and never bothered to look for a home, I don't feel like paying for his food anymore, she had babies and we don't want them (and no, we're not spaying her or separating her from the male). They don't seem to care whether or not their pets get euthanized because of a lack of adopters.

Or would the average unknowledgable joe looking for a cavy go to a breeder instead?

[Djakarta]

I DO think adopting an animal is a privilege and carries with it a responsibility. I do think that the ease with which a pet can be casually aquired contributes to the ease with which they are casually disposed,dumped and discarded. This one is sick? or too active? or too timid ? or takes too much time?- Easy - get rid of it - if we ever want another, they're easy to obtain. So why not make it a little less easy to adopt them. Why not limit who has the privilege? The examples you list of why people discard their pets all seem to be related to lack of education. If a rescue has an opportunity to educate a person prior to adoption, letting them know in advance the details of care, the financial cost, the length of time involved, it may discourage some, but hopefully the majority of people would accept the responsibility to care for the animal as a lifetime commitment, not a temporary purchase.

[salana]

People buying directly from breeders would be a problem if there was a petstore tax. You could try to levy a breeder tax but that would probably start a guinea pig black market.

Maybe there should be a tax on store cages....

[Djakarta]

The breeders- well, that 's where the problem begins. How to regulate the breeders. How about city and county ordinances regulating the sale of animals from one's home? If they can limit the number of garage sales a person can give in a set amount of time, hopefully they could establish a limit for sale of animals. Above a certain number of animals ( either number bred or total number in your care), require registration and licensing. Require annual renewal of the license. Licensed breeders are subject to a well defined set of parameters for animal care. ( Hopefully more than the "Must have food and water" that seems to currently be the standard) If, on inspection, the breeders fails to uphold these parameters, the animals will be seized and the license revoked. Prohibit sales of animals at swap meets. Since breeders won't self- regulate, external regulations must be constructed and applied. Some how it must be made very unprofitable to be a breeder.