April 2, 2008A game of tags
A law passed last year by the General Assembly requires veterinarians to report all rabies vaccines administered to dogs and cats to the local treasurer's office. If there is no current license on file for the pet, the treasurer will mail you an application for the license, in essence a bill for you pet tax. You have 30 days to pay your license fee or your case is turned over to animal control. The fees, by the way, are not budget-busting: less than $10 in most localities if your pet is spayed or neutered. The license fee for an unaltered pet can be up to $25, depending on your city or county rate schedule. The Virginia Veterinary Medical Association is concerned that license fee and the threat of animal control showing up at doorsteps will discourage owners from getting their pets vaccinated. With the number of rabies cases at record levels last year, that's a reasonable concern. Dog owners also worry that the state government will use the vaccination records for breed profiling by insurance companies. But a new law passed last year exempts breed information on license applications from the Freedom of Information Act. What's a responsible pet parent to do? Pay up, I say. The fee is nominal and it's worth it to avoid the hassle. If you feel strongly that this is another example of government getting far too deep into your business, then reach out to your legislator and let him or her know how you feel. But the wrong answer is to refrain from vaccinating your pet. Rabies is deadly and highly communicable. It's worth whatever you have to pay to protect your pets and your family. |
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Comments
[April 3, 2008 9:47 PM]
Rita PetersonAbout the threat of rabies vs vaccination and license tags for dogs. What about all the cats who roam freely? How many are vaccinated? Why don't they have to have tags? Why pick on the responsible dog owners. Is this not dexcrimination?
[April 4, 2008 1:16 PM]
Nona : →http://blogs.roanoke.com/thehappywag/You are right, Rita. Anyone who has an outdoor cat has to get kitty vaccinated, and thus should pay the license fee if there is one for cats in their county or city.
But many of the cats who roam freely are feral cats. Vaccinating feral cats is difficult and costly, but there are local groups who do try to "catch, treat and release" feral cats.