Unregistered Dogs Too?

I read a fair amount over my regional area of Hessen.  This week.....within my local town of Wiesbaden....the news came out that the dog tax will escalate (roughly double).  It was 96 Euro (2015) and it will go to 180 Euro for 2016.

I've written over this topic recently.  Various communities are stepping up the tax and simply say that it's about the dogs and that to have a dog is an element of wealth.

It is a comical way of viewing a dog.  Some people would argue that having a gold fish, a cat or a bird....would also be an element of wealth.

A waiver for those who make minimum wage?  No.  A waiver for those over sixty-five?  No.

Inspections to confirm compliance?  Well, the region network HR commented upon this.  Within Wiesbaden last year....roughly 850 dogs were checked.  Almost 160 dogs were found to be unregistered or untaxed.  A problem like the asylum crowd or refugees?  Well, yeah.

What the authorities can say is that you got caught with an unregistered dog.....you need to register the dog, pay the normal tax, and they could jerk you around by asking how many years the dog has been with you and assess you for the extra years of tax that they missed.

Of the twenty-odd things that I generally shake my head over.....the dog tax makes the list.  Looking at 180 Euro (roughly $200) for one single dog is a serious impact item.  Sadly, it could actually be more of a yearly tax than I'd have to pay on a small engined Smart car.  How this tax makes logical sense and not taxing cat owners....is beyond me.

The comical side to this is that the claim is that street-cleaning is attached to the collection of the dog tax.  But when you go and look at the number of streets throughout Wiesbaden, and the fact that over half of them are not cleaned one single day out of the year by the city....it makes no logical sense.  It is reminiscent of the cost-add-on that a Air Force general in Europe put on gas sold via the BX gas stations.....and this nickel add-on deal went to finance baby diapers and lessen their cost to US military customer using the BX.  When this finally went public and people asked of the logic....it didn't make a lot of sense.

Bottom line?  Go CAT!  Cheat the government out of their loot..