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Low Cost Spay & Neuter Program Making a DifferencePosted Monday, July 13, 2009, at 8:25 PM
In Spring of 2008, over a year ago, the flood of kittens and puppies at Spring River Animal Services was overwhelming! Offering a lower cost spay & neuter program executed by Arkansans for Animals (no association with Northeast Arkansans for Animals) was and still is a much needed program in our area. The clinics have been and continue to be solidly booked which is so encouraging to those of us who deal with the overpopulation of dogs and cats on a daily basis. It validates the hard work and long hours that go into these 3-day clinics by many local and out of town volunteers - not to mention the veterinary staff so dedicated to this program. The amount of puppies seems to have subsided some this year - at least we have not had as many brought in this year as last; however, cats and toms have been at it furiously as ever. Many cat owners have seen the wisdom of having their kitties altered instead of having to deal with litter after litter but there is still so much more to do! The amount of stray cats continue to multiply and, with no socialization add to the colonies of feral cats in our area. Not only are these former housecats who were abandoned and left to fend for themselves "wild" cats again, they are becoming a nuisance for many homeowners whose flowerbeds are destroyed and who find wild litters under porches and under their houses. What to do? Animal Control has very few traps at their disposal to trap these wild cats - as a matter of fact, some are so wild they have damaged the traps set for them which had to be repaired. One option is to try and trap the cats and get them spayed/neutered one at a time so, in time, the flood of litters will subside. Spring River Animal Services does not have the funds to get these animals altered but citizens and homeowners can make a difference by making a donation of $38 to SPARE (SpringRiver Animal Rescue Effort) PO Box 364, Cherokee Village, AR 72525. This amount will get 1 cat spayed or neutered at the low cost clinic (includes State of Arkansas mandated rabies vaccination) and allows us to make a difference with feral cats or strays roaming our neighborhoods and brought in to the shelter. We would love to eventually get to the point to where no dog or cat leaves the animal shelter unspayed or unneutered and to where donations allow us to provide fully vetted animals to potential adopters in our communities and nationwide. Many folks are afraid to volunteer because they may "get attached" to the animals at the shelter - but maybe you have wondered how you can make a difference - in some small way? Your $38 donation will pay to have a cat spayed or neutered - or, if you can afford a little more, $58 will pay to have a dog altered. Thank you for your consideration to help reduce the number of homeless animals in our area shelters! FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CHECK OUT http://spare.rescuegroups.org Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
Springriver Animal Rescue Effort (SPARE)  - Archives - Blog RSS feed ![[Feed icon]](http://www.villageronline.com/images/icons/feed-icon-14x14.png){kind=icon} - Comments RSS feed - Login After a lifelong career in administrative support services for various corporations, translator/interpreter for US Army Forces in Europe, Century 21 Realtor and running a successful landscaping business with her husband in Texas, Helga and husband Robert retired to Cherokee Village five years ago. She is a two-time cancer survivor and after having been declared well on her way to recovery, she found her new niche in life: Helping a budding but struggling local animal shelter get as many animals adopted as possible, educating the public about the needs of the shelter and working closely with community organizations and the public to raise funds, promote spay and neuter programs and responsible pet ownership.
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Dear Mrs Lange,
In the forthcoming Tax year, it is my intention to claim my dogs as tax exemptions.
In the past seven decades, as a group, the dozens of dogs that I have owned, trained, handled, bred, whatever, have proven to be a far more heroic, courageous, loyal, trustwothy, kinder, of character and integrity, values far superior to the self-proclaimed Rulers of the Universe, self-anoited as "human" beings.
Why a tax deduction for Dog owners?
If brain-dead, impoverishing activities such as
gambling(lottery?) can be deducted from taxes, a place on the 1040 for your dogs is long overdue.
A debate over whether concern for
your dogs versus children/wifes, so on,
will not find a short answer.
Hint: after all the wifes and children have departed for parts unknown, take a look down at who is still standing by your side.
Forget all about "Clean Fuel Deduction", Stimulus
packages, "TARP"(what is that?), so on. All that stuff is Mother Goose stories for children.
However, regardless, it is Not for a Government(at any level) to measure affection(yet).
What can be quantified is money, number of dogs.
The IRS website, Topic 354 discusses what determines dependency status. The Legal test for a dependent has six questions:
1. The Member of Household or Relationship Test:
To meet this test, the dependent must live with you for the entire year.
2. The Citizen or Resident Test:
To be a citizen, a dependent must be born in the United States.
3. The Joint Return test:
Does not apply, Dogs do not file tax returns.
4. The Gross Income Test:
A dependent cannot earn more than the standard
deduction. Dogs do not earn anything.
5. The Support Test:
You must provide over half of the dependent's support during the year. For dogs, the amount of support is 100%.
6. A dependant must have an identification number. My dogs have many ID numbers. Choose.
Plus, Senior and/or Blind?
I cared for a blind German Shepherd dog for a number of years, plus, many of my dogs are/have been over 65 years old(Dog years).
Socially, our increasingly transient society has made
Dogs a quality-of-life issue.
The decline of the traditional family, siblings and parents often live on opposite ends of the country. Jobs leap from city to city, and careers change by necessity in the dynamic economy.
Careers demand more, making fewer professionals choose to have children, et. al..
People have turned to dogs fill that void.
With many such single households and empty nests,
the current Income Tax Code does not address a large body of the public.
Households that lack any chance at deductions, often have dogs, and pay anywhere from $12,000 up to $38,000 over a dog's life of fourteen years (peteducation.com).
Legal?
Affirmed landmark decision, Case Law: Texas, Bueckner v. Hamel(1994) 886 S.W.2d 368.
The Honourable J. Andell writing for the majority, after a scathing denouncement of the Plaintiffs, opines "the time has come for the Law to judge companion animals for themselves and their special values to their human companions".
Summation: Legally, by IRS and current Social standards, my dogs qualify as dependents.
Questions?
No questions whatsoever! I understand there are forces at work trying to do just that: allow pets and the costs to support them as tax deductions - let's see what happens!