DOG TAX PECULIARITIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 1918, Page 2

DOG TAX PECULIARITIES.

'Tis only a short time now before the annually recurring subject of dox tax will be due for consideration by the various local governing bodies in whose hands the levying of that tax jb vested. It is therefore not too early to discuss the peculiarities of the law under which this tax is levied, nor to suggest improvements thereto and the most efficient means for getting any desirable alterations to it made. As it stands now the law gives each borough council, county council and town board in the Dominion power to levy and collect a registration fee on all dogs within its boundaries in accord with the collective wisdom of its indivdual members, so that, for example, it is possible for a borough council to decree that within its boundaries the registration fee on all dogs, irrespective of breed or sex, shall be 10s per head for the year 1919, while for the same year the council of the county within which such borough is situated could decide on 2s 6d for the charge on dogs used for working cattle lor sheep and 10s for dogs not so employed. In this connection it must be borne in mind that in whatever county, borough or town district within the Dominion a dog has been registered, by payment of the fee levied therein, that registration holds good for the year of registration in every other county, borough, or town district tliroughout the Dominion; also that such payment is made on befhalf of the dog entitling it to be owned by some resident of New Zealand, not on behalf of any human creature entitling him or her to own any dog. So that in tie event of a change of ownership the registration receipt and collar issued by the local authority therewith ought to be part and parcel of the transfer, and further, that if a human owner of a dog disposes of, or in any way loses, it and becomes possessed of another to take its place, that person should see that the newly acquired canine has been duly registered, and, if not, Bhould effect eucto registration to enable the animal to be legally owned by anyone. These facts are suggestive and have been known to lead to peculiar results. For example, borough A levies a tax of 10s per dog on all dogs of every kind within its boundaries, reducible to 5s if paid before 31st March. County B, surrounding the borough, for the same year levies 2s 6d per dog for those used for stock purposes and 10s for all others, generally classed as sporting dogs, and makes no provision for reducing the fee jby early payment. Now farmer C lives jjin tihe county and being somewhat of a sporting man keeps two greyhounds (10a each in the county), tat he has a crony, D, resident in the borough. He notices in his newspaper the report of dog tax levy in borough and county as above and sees the possibility of saving 109, so he temporarily transfers Ms two ! L'reyhounds to his crony D, together' v,-ith 10s wherewith to pay the tax of ."- per head before March 31st. D pays ,I he tax' in the borough. The dogs are ' : henceforth licensed to be owned anywhere in the Dominion for that year and fanner C is 10s to the good on the transaction. Meanwhile D. the borough resident, is by way of being a dog fancier and owns, eay, a pair of pedigree collies, which he keeps _ for show and breeding purpdscs at considerable profit to himself, so when fanner C brings the greyhounds ho takes back into the county the coUies and pays tiie county council fee of 2s 6d each for them as cattle dogs, by which means this crony D is 6s> to the good, and each of these worthy citizens has got to windward of his local body. This sort of performance is not only possible; it is actually carried out and to an extent that would surprise some of the members of such local bodies as are had in iMs man■ner. It fa hard to understand why a uniform rate for lie whole Dominion should not be decided upon. If the Minister for Internal Affairs caused all local bodies interested to be circularised asking for an expression of opinion on the subject of uniformity and suggestions as to the amount to ibe levied he would ibe able to arrive at a fairly good idea of the general opinion of the dog owners of tlhe. whole country and obtain data on which to base proposals for remodelling the law satbrfaciorfry, for surely no one will uphold it as. satisfactory in its'present condition. TSUI HERENL