Slapping a 16-percent sales tax (IVA) on pet food could lead to as many as half a million dogs and cats being abandoned to fend for themselves on the streets, some animal welfare groups say.
It will also place an additional burden on already overstretched animal care shelters, say many expatriates in the Lake Chapala area.
“The tax will create an significant influx of animals,” says Jackie Kellum, a volunteer at Anita’s Animals in Ajijic. “The main reason that a person surrenders or abandons an animal is financial.”
“I am really worried about low-income local families who are already struggling to feed their pets,” says Shelley Ronnfeldt of the Lucky Dog Rescue and Adoption Center. “It is very common for a poor family to relinquish a pet because they simply cannot afford to feed them any more. I really question whether animal food is the best way to collect taxes, especially in a country like Mexico that struggles to care for its animals.”
Opposition to the proposed tax increase has grown since President Enrique Peña Nieto announced the plan last month in a fiscal reform package designed to raise much-needed revenue for the federal government.
The move has provoked a nationwide debate on whether owning a dog or cat should be considered a “luxury.”
Millions of stray dogs and cats roam the streets of Mexico. According to a 2011 report by the Environment and Natural Resources Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, only 30 percent of Mexico’s estimated 23 million dogs and cats are cared for within a home. Six out of 10 homes contain a pet of some kind (usually a dog), notes a Mitofsky survey. The average Mexican family invests around 500 pesos a month to feed their pets and keep them healthy.Volunteers at shelters in the Lake Chapala area have expressed concerns at the many downsides of extendingIVA to pet food.
“The extra cost will decrease the financial ability of those who rescue, foster and feed abandoned animals,” says Kellum. “There are many mom-and-pop stores that sell pet food in small quantities (30 to 50 pesos at a time) to local families, whose small business will also be negatively affected.”
Like many others, Dr. Mary Ann Borman of Riberas del Pilar believes the tax is misguided. “Pet food is currently more expensive in Mexico than in many other counties. It is not a luxury item for wealthy pet owners but an essential nutritional necessity for caring pet owners to maintain the good health of their animals,” she says.
Says Javier Rivera, a spokesperson for the Asociaciones Protectoras de Animales de México (APASDEM): “If we lived in a first world country, where there weren’t domestic animals living on the streets and ownership was properly regulated, then we would have no objection to the tax. But our country is not like this.”
Rivera says the government is wrong to view owning a pet as a reflection of wealth. Taxing pet food is “simplistic and myopic” and overlooks the large segment of the population that adopts rescue animals and doesn’t view pets as playthings for their children or status symbols, he notes.
People who take responsibility for feeding animals that roam the streets of their neighborhoods will also feel the economic pinch, says Ronnfeldt. “There are several colonies of feral cats in the (lakeside) area that are fed by people who not only donate their time but the money to buy the food. These same people make every effort to catch these animals and have them safely spayed or neutered, usually at their own expense.”
Animal welfare groups say the government is ignoring the fact that owning a pet brings comfort and emotional stability to thousands of people, regardless of their economic status. They say they serve as companions to the elderly and lonely, and allow children to learn responsibility from a young age.
Says Kellum: “There has been a coordinated effort by the expat and Mexican communities at lakeside to provide educational programs in schools that help reinforce citizenship, pride, dependability, humanity and responsibility. There is a positive outcome of pet ownership for young children, as it helps prepare them for adulthood. With this proposed tax there will be less of a chance for children to learn these positive life lessons.”
Social media groups are trying to raise grass roots support to nix the tax, with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram being used extensively to create petitions and lobby legislators. Many posts express similar sentiments. Noted Princeza_Rebelde@Princeza_Fresa on Twitter this week: “Alimentar a tu mascota, tu amigo, tu compañero, no es un lujo, es una obligación, un acto de humanidad” (Feeding your pet, your friend, your companion, is not a luxury, it’s an obligation, an act of humanity).
In an additional part of the legislation, Peña Nieto is seeking to place a limit on tax deductions for those who donate to animal shelters that care for abandoned and stray animals.
Although there have been no protests in Guadalajara, a demonstration against the proposed tax was held last Sunday in Mexico City and group of concerned citizens marched to the Congress building in capital on October 15 to express their displeasure.