DOPESHEET

A dog tax failed in Lithuanian harbor Klaipeda. City’s administration withdrew a toll on dogs and cats kept in apartments, because the cost of administrating tax was higher than revenues from the tax.

Citizens of third biggest Lithuanian city Klaipeda for ten years had to pay a special tax if they kept a dog or a cat in their flats.

A person keeping a dog had to pay 17 Euros per annum while a person keeping a cat had to pay 10 Euros. However the toll failed completely, because citizens hardly paid a penny.

Klaipeda has more than 150 000 population, but registered only 5000 pets (cats and dogs) that are kept in apartment blocks, and only several hundreds of them actually paid a tax.

City administration has collected 4600 Euros from this tax last year while administrating the toll cost 5500 Euros.

Klaipeda politicians decided to drop the tax and hope the move will encourage citizens to mark their pets with special microchips which will be compulsory from the next year.

The purpose of the tax was to gather money for excrement trashes and special pet sites in the city.

SHOTLIST

Soundbite (Lithuanian), a woman:
No, we did not pay. It’s just happened. By the way, this dog belongs to my daughter who left, we found it alone and lost when it was very little.

Soundbite (Lithuanian), a woman:
I shelter these dogs from the street, it cost me a lot of money for feeding, trimming or vaccinating and why should even bother to pay this special tax?

Sounbite (Lithuanian), IRENA SAKALIENE, head of Klaipeda urban management department:
For example, last year we have collected some 16 thousand taxes, I count here in Litas (4600 Euros), while administration of the tax cost 19 thousand (5500 Euros).

Sounbite (Lithuanian), IRENA SAKALIENE, head of Klaipeda urban management department:
It would make much more sense to use these money to microchip all the pets.

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