Dog tax discs now available in three additional parishes
Monday 7th January 2013, 1:00PM GMT.
St Martin’s parish constable Gerry Tattersall with his dogs. Three other parishes have adopted the dog tax disc idea. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 1293652)
THREE more parishes will be handing out dog tax discs this year following the success of the St Martin’s initiative.
Dog owners will once again have to pay £10 for the second year running per animal but residents in St Peter Port, St Saviour’s and Forest will now be issued with a disc for its collar.
The St Martin’s parish idea was aimed at cutting the number of people dodging the annual payment and senior constable Graham Smale said it had worked well.
‘We believe it to have been successful and it was a simple initiative that enticed people to pay their tax.
‘From that point of view it has been very beneficial.’
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Why do we still have a dog tax? I would understand if it was used to maintain the dog mess bins (regularly, not sporadically as at the moment, complained recently as one where I walk my dog was overflowing for several weeks, causing bags to be blown all over the place), but is used at the Parish’s discretion. Why just dogs if it is for parish publications etc? I can also understand from the days when dogs were able to roam freely. This is no longer the case. Why not cats, horses and other animals? Just saying.
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Dog owner, I completely agree – horse tax should definitely exist in Guernsey. Their owners don’t pick up their mess and they are far more likely to cause damage to people and their property.
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Instead of dog tax we should bring in a dna dog doo doo database and fine owners 2 grand a time for fouling like they do on Capri.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1375684/Italian-island-Capri-use-DNA-database-catch-pet-owners-refuse-clean-dogs-mess.html
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Martino. We agree on another point!! This sounds brilliant.
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A good start to the New Year Rosie and I’m with you all the way on the buses too!
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Another crap Daily Mail story ?
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What’s the fine if you don’t pay?
Are there going to be actual Dog Wardens available to “shop” those people who don’t pay the tax?
Can I get someone to bring in a “Vomit Tax” as I am sick and tired (ho ho ho) having to wade my way through this vile mess en route to work?
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So there available… there being handed out… but there compulsary. That’s a spin to put on it. Taxing you to have a best friend. I 100% agree in Guernsey if you surf you need membership to give you 3rd party insurance incase your board hit’s somebody’s head in the water and injure’s them. It works on a small island but if you suggested it in Australia or America they’d go crazy. Every time you mention dog tax in the U.K there’s uproar about it, what do you get for your £10? I guess it’s only a small island you can impose taxes like these but bet your backside if they could tax fresh air they would!
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What do you get for the £10? The money should go towards a scheme as is being planned in Capri that Martino put a link to above. (If you can’t bear to read the Daily Mail…. here’s another link!)
http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/pets/capri-dna-test-dog-waste
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rosie
I agree it sounds like the perfect solution however unfortunately it would cost considerably more than £10.
A one off aggressive clampdown period, hefty fines and naming and shaming would solve the problem for about 5 years.
Re daily mail, without Ray and Martino’s regular links to this quality news site how would any of us ever be informed of what Kim Kardashian is wearing on a daily basis? ;-)
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Kim who?
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You charge it as part of the initial registration fee for the dog and if it is £20-£40, so be it. A one off aggressive clampdown as you suggest would be far more costly because of the need for significantly increased man-hours, court time etc. This would be a burden on the tax-payer when it should be the dog owning community that should be paying, although I admit it might seem a bit unfair on responsible dog-owners. I suspect tho’ that they would be the first to agree to such a system because it must be pretty galling to constantly be suspected of being one of those that are happy to leave their dogs do-do all over the place.
For those that don’t know what we are talking about- see the link on my, or Martino’s post above.
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Rosie
Personally I think it would be worth pursuing.
It would be unfair for the doggie community to cover all the costs as some are very compliant. I think a zero tolerance policy on all anti social behaviour would make for a better society.
I suspect an initial DNA test and maintaining a doggie database would cost a lot more than £40 per dog.
You would then need to have a clampdown anyway once the scheme was up and running which would incur the police time and court costs.
Also, how long do you think it would take to pass the necessary laws to be able to test the dogs? At least 5 years I reckon.
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Pay £10 and get a little coloured plastic disc! Oh you are so kind. Wonder what Income Tax are going to offer as I pay them far more than £10 tax.
As for taxing dogs and not cats and especially horses isn’t this discimination? What about an individuals human rights to equality.
Bring back the bicycle, window, hearth, glass, wallpaper and brick taxes.
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Perhaps we could do a trial case? My dog could bring a discrimiation case to the European Court of Canine Rights.
Seriously though, I don’t see where discrimination and human rights comes into it. Every dog owner is taxed equally so there is equality.
I would like to see cats taxed though, but only because I can’t stand them wandering in my garden. I suggest an annual tax of £10,000 per cat. ;-)
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pointless unless all the parishes do it, dogs are not confined to their own parish nor do they or they owners wear badges showing if ther dog should have a tax disc or not
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Apparently you can purchase very similar plastic discs at local motor accessory shops and key cutting emporiums for about 30p
Other outlets also available
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Glad I left Guernsey with my dog. Thatchers gold £1.49 in wether spoons 3 for £5 and 50p change xtra £5 spare for some biscuits for Wilson.
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As with wind turbines this is worthy of further investigation. Even if dog owners have to pay £20 or £40 or more per animal it is still cheap at the price and gives them a screening into the bargain. Why would the effects of a single, short lived clampdown last five years? Another figure you have just plucked from the air.
Re Daily Mail, I’m not at all interested in Kim Kardashian. Far more interested in what Nicky Minaj is up to!
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And what will the money go towards? Again, why only dogs?
I can fully understand the reasoning behind a dog tax if it went towards the dog bins and emptying thereof, but it doesn’t. It goes towards the publications for the remedes, refuse rates and parish elections. So therefore, why just dog owners taxed, why not cyclists, shed owners, pig farmers etc.
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Dog Owner. You obviously didn’t bother to read the link that Martino added to his post further up and to which he is referring. I also put a link to the same story on post 5. I have yet to meet a cyclist or shed owner who leaves an unwelcome package on the footpaths for everyone else to step in!
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Rosie,
I agree that something needs to be done re picking up doggy doos (and this looks like a sensible ,albeit expensive to operate and police option). I and most other responsible dog owners do this anyway and do not like being tarred with the same brush as those that don’t. However, currently, the tax that we pay to the Constables does not contribute to this in any way shape or form and is therefore unfair. If the tax did indeed go towards cleaning up, policing, maintaining pooh bins fair enough, but it doesn’t.
Years ago you did need a cycle tax, why not anymore? They use the roads. (I have nothing against cyclists, in fact quite the opposite, just an example.)
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No but horses do and massive amounts that are hazardous to vehicles braking and deadly to bikes! Or somone with a buggy having to go in the road after a horse has had a poo on a pathway. Their hooves also contribute more than any tyres will to the wear on our roads surface. When its soft in the summer those hooves dig in thats when they start to break down. An average horse is 500kilos, they make a mess of the roads and the paths.
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Dog Owner. I totally agree that it is irritating to be lumped together with irresponsible dog-owners if you are one that is thoughtful towards others and responsible with your dog… I said that in post 5. I sometimes look after a dog so know how it feels.
Re a cycle tax. I don’t know why it was removed…. probably because the cost of collecting exceeded the value it generated. I do know a couple of cyclists that do not own a car at all but the vast majority do drive as well so pay their road contributions when they use their cars. Cycling doesn’t create any wear and tear on the road surface to speak of, nor any pollution and the cost of cycle racks (in financial and space terms) is tiddly in comparison to cars. I also think that we all benefit when people choose to cycle and leave their car at home so I am anti anything that could act as a deterrent to more people getting on their bikes.
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