Governor

Animal Lovers Push Back on Proposed Tax on Veterinary Care

Veterinary care is one of several goods and services to which Lamont wants to apply the state’s 6.35 percent sales tax.

Part of Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed budget has some animal advocates say he’s barking up the wrong tree.

“Folks are literally breaking the piggy bank to take care of their pet,” Gordan Willard, executive director of the Connecticut Humane Society said.

Veterinary care is one of several goods and services to which Lamont wants to apply the state’s 6.35 percent sales tax.

It is one of a bevy of products and services that would see the sales tax applied to them for the first time.

“We have a budget out there right now, I kind of like the budget I got out there, it’s honest and it’s credible,” Lamont said on Wednesday.

Lamont says the sales tax expansion would bring in $292 million the first year and $500 million the second. But Willard says the tax would be a financial burden to families with pets and could potentially cause them to have to make sacrifices.

“We would rather have them stay with their family then have to give them up and then we have to find another family makes no sense,” Willard said.

At the federal level, one of Connecticut’s U.S. Senators is looking to keep pet care affordable.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced a bill Thursday that could help cut costs for pet owners when it comes to their prescriptions.

For pet owners like Ginny Lavoie, the cost for pet care can come with a bite.

“You’re talking anywhere from five to $600 a year,” Lavoie said.

While she says she expects some costs to go up, she says her pet’s care should not be taxed.

Contact Us