4 x 120 CHF tax for taking good care dogs :/

Complaints Corner
1
I'm all for paying taxes for things that are fair and i've payed dog taxes for our dogs all the time and will continue to do so, but...

Having to pay 120 CHF (up from 50 CHF ~4 years ago to 100 and now 120 CHF) per. dog => 480 CHF is beyond my complaint threshold!

Someone explain to me why the tax is that high ? I for one is *nowhere* near costing that much money in plastic sh**-bags since I buy my own to be sure I have them.

Why not 120 CHF for the first dog and then lets say 50 CHF for the next ? Or some maximum - like 200 CHF per family ?

I generally can see a sense/fairness in most tax calculations - this one is beyond me.

2
...and yes I know i'm a minority having 4 dogs - but still, it ain't fair

3
Hi,

You are right its not fair. Im sure you are an owner who always picks up after your dogs, provides your own poop bags as stated, I cannot understand such a hike in prices. We have two dogs here in Zurich and its 360 chf. I just pay it but get so mad when I see folk walking their pooches and leaving poop on the floor or worst still,seeing bags of poop left on pavements etc.

Personally I think you should ask your Gemeinde for a break down of costs, it might not make you feel any better but its always good to have a vent!!

Darcy

4
Look on the bright side. If you lived where Darcy1 lives you'd be paying 720 chf for four dogs.

One of the rare occasions when taxes in Neuchatel are lower than in Zurich.

5
There is always a brighter side somehow lol!

Darcy

6
360 chf for two dogs ? oh the insanity.

and yeah, I think I'll go ask for what this amount of money is used on since it just don't make sense.

7
The rate shoild go up for each extra dog to discourage overpopulation of cats and dogs

8
These things don't exactly empty themselves...

9
There is already maximum of dogs you can legally own thus that is already handled that way.

there should be a tax on those breeding dogs relative to the cantons current overload in dog/cat shelters. That would be more interesting

10
No. But the price of doing so doesn't go up 4x because I own 4 dogs

And that's my point the tax has doubled and is linear pr. Dog which doesn't match to the impact more dog has in one house.

11
Of course it does. Now, you might claim that they anyway need a guy to empty it and a truck to move the stuff away so the cost is invariant to the number of dogs, but there will surely be a point where just one extra dog in the population will require another guy and another truck so the only sensible way to cost the service is on a pro rata basis.

12
What is the used of the tax anyway? Is the school trainee of the Dog is free?..or its only that RAPIDOG box or plastic is free?...im curios about it...how about the poop of the Horse around?why they cant picked it up like the Dog'?..

13
Here we pay 70 per dog (also in Neuchatel Canton, rural area)- it changes from commune to commune- so best enquire before you choose where you want to live. The cost is not only for disposing or Rabidog bags, etc- but is meant as a measure to prevent too many dogs and multiple ownership- as many problems arise with irresponsible multi ownership and pack behaviour. The reason no commune will ever charge a fee per family, irrespective of the number of dogs kept.

14
So you can't afford ten francs per month per dog? Why do you have four dogs then, it seems your budget is a bit tight for so many? What happens if one of them gets sick? I'm not suggesting you get rid of your dogs but surely anyone getting such a large number of pets has to think about costs first? Hence I think it's fair that all dogs cost the same, why should you pay less per dog on average than someone with just one dog?

15
Im not sure about the dog tax and what its used for,but can answer the horse poop question lol. Horse poop is totally compostable, dog poop can be very dangerous and can cause blindness due to worms.

Maybe the tax covers all the folk who dont clean up after their pooches? I dont know where it goes, would be great if we did get an explaination of costs.

Darcy

16
Kassensturz asked the same question and wrote a German article on it.

17
Two Communes in Neuchatel charge the least amount, 50CHF- the highest being Neuchatel and Val-de-Ruz, at 120CHF. Watch out though, a new law is being discussed, putting the price much higher for 3rd and any extra dog above 2, to discourage multiple ownership- this should be decided soon and be implemented from 2014.

Good news though, a proportion of the tax (again changes from area to area) goes to support your local animal refuges, and also towards the official veterinary officers and services- that deal with health and animal protection, campaigns, etc.

18
Hmm, I think it's dangerous to raise the tax too much - some people may either genuinely not be able to afford their dogs anymore and have to give them away, while others may just abandon them. I think that existing dogs should be taxed at a certain, fixed rate, and that any new dogs would get taxed at the higher rate. So you would basically go and register all your dogs by a certain date and if you bought additional dogs afterwards, they would cost the higher tax.

19
I see what you mean. However, all dogs have to be registered here, with name, breed, description, and they have to be microchipped and the chip registered with the Commune. So owners who abandon dogs are quickly traced- that is for sure.

20
I like the thought of the rescues getting some benefit from it, I guess that makes sense when dogs can sometimes end up in rescues. That I do not mind paying for!!