The city of Bolchano, northern Italy, is considering imposing dog taxes on tourists and residents as it suffers from street dog excrement.
According to the New York Times, a U.S. media outlet, on the 24th, the bill will take effect in 2026 if approved by local councils, and tourists to Bolchano have to pay 1.50 euros per day and 100 euros per year for residents. The dog tax, which was abolished in 2008, will be revived in about 18 years.
Previously, Bolchano had been implementing a DNA registration system for two years to identify dogs that left excrement on the road or attacked people or dogs. However, due to the burden of registration costs, only about 12,000 out of 30,000 dog owners were registered, which was ineffective.
The new tax system, which replaces this DNA registration system, is exempt from taxation for two years for registered dogs.
Tax revenues are said to be used to clean the streets and create dog parks. Currently, a fine of 200 to 600 euros is imposed in Bolzano if dog poop is not removed, and the introduction of the new system is likely to strengthen the fines.
The local response is mixed. “If we tax dogs, we will become ‘dogs’ ourselves,” Bolchano Mayor Claudio Corratti criticized in an interview with local media, suggesting, “We need to thoroughly report citizens who do not clean up their waste using the ‘neighborhood monitoring system’ and provide more dog waste bags.”
Carla Loki, president of the Italian Animal Protection Association (ENPA), pointed out, “The new system not only ruthlessly punishes families and tourists traveling with dogs, but also sends the wrong message of treating animals as ‘ATM cash machines.'”
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
