pet connection

If you don’t speak up now, California will slap a tax on veterinary care.

The move is part of the governor’s plan to close the budget gap caused  by the sour economy, but the inclusion of veterinary services in a list that includes a round of golf (!) shows that the folks at the governor’s office see pets as an unnecessary luxury, and as property to be fixed like a car or a piece of funiture (both, not incidentally, on the governor’s service tax list). Veterinary services are along among the health-care sector services to be considered for taxation — the state won’t even tax your visit to an aromatherapist, should you have one.

People are already struggling to keep their pets, much less provide them with basic veterinary care.

Pets are neither a luxury nor inanimate property. With people already being forced to give up pets when they lose their houses, we don’t need any more strain on the system.

Contact the governor’s office and let them know that while people can make do with tax on a round of golf, veterinary services need to be taken out of the proposal.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160

And then call and fax your representatives in the state Assembly and Senate. Here’s how to find out who represents you along with contact information. Remember e-mails are pretty much ignored, so fax and phone (and even snail mail).

Make this top of your to-do list for today.  Don’t tax services that real people need when times are tough, including care for family members and services to fix things when you can’t afford to replace them. (Especially a car, which can be the difference between having a job or not.)

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