Pet Liscense

[Hreow]

Gun-laws hasn't stopped people from owning one illegally, only law-abiding people. Olympic pistol-team, for instance... A lot of time and effort goes into trying to keep that law. I really don't think a law would do anything, and that the maintenance, byrocratic structure etc. would cost a lot more money than the scheme would bring in.
Only thing I can think of that might work is to educate children at an early age. Husbandry-classes at primary school? Ok, with O157 that's too young to be around cows - maybe have the parents who keep pets have a short talk on how to pet, care for and feed various pets. Or the kids themselves, if old enough.

[bobbie3917]

Originally Posted by Emm

but if the money was going back into animal welfare and and raising awareness of pet ownership and what it entails - surely people won't mind this - after all if its for the greater good?

i still dont think that would work as its the same with road tax and speed cam's the money was ment to go back in to the roads ppl hate it, we know most of the money would get lost in the gav soewhere it always does

Originally Posted by Emm

but wouldn't that be a good thing? If you don't have the money to look after an animal then you shouldn't have one. I'm not talking about a massive amount of money to pay - but animals do cost a lot to keep in food, vet bills, vaccinations etc if you don't have the finance for this then you really shouldn't have them.

yes pets do cost a lot of money to keep, but as a breeder i would rather my pup/kitten go to some1 that had to save the money for the pet and will love it 100% than the person that see them as a states symbol, and maybe they feed it the best food then have pet insurance but the pet licences is just 1 step to far, what happens if 1 year they don't have th money for it will the pet be taken away from them?

[Snoof]

Originally Posted by bobbie3917

yes pets do cost a lot of money to keep, but as a breeder i would rather my pup/kitten go to some1 that had to save the money for the pet and will love it 100% than the person that see them as a states symbol, and maybe they feed it the best food then have pet insurance but the pet licences is just 1 step to far, what happens if 1 year they don't have th money for it will the pet be taken away from them?

Agreed - without the option of pet insurance I would not be able to justify having more than one or two cats. Add in an annual lump sum and I would never be able to do it on my own (although with Matt I could). And to be honest, I would much rather see a rescue cat get a loving home that can afford to feed it than know so many are denied even the chance to live in a rescue...

That said, I have thought it might be a good idea to set up charities that will spay/neuter/vax for free if given proof of income (which would have to be below a specified limit) in an ongoing effort to get all cats taken care of as well as possible. It strikes me as a strange discrepancy that we have nationalised healthcare for people, but not for pets, but obviously you can't make people pay taxes for other people's pets when they might not have any themselves.