*fumes*

[eirenical]

Just when I think that the human race can't get any more callous and unfeeling, they go and prove me wrong. Thanks to a weblog entry by one of my favorite authors, Lynn Flewelling (see her original post here), I just found out that dear Gov. Schwarzenegger is proposing a 9% tax on such "services" as golf, auto repair, Disneyland and veterinary services.

Yeah.

Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture? While golf and Disney are fun and exciting and cars make it easier for us to get around, none of them are living, breathing, feeling entities who rely on the finances of their human mothers and fathers to keep them alive and healthy.

Now, I don't often get up on political soapboxes in my weblog, but I feel in this case that it's warranted. As a veterinarian, I have already euthanized far too many pets in the last year with completely curable illnesses for no better reason than that their human parents couldn't afford the treatment. Now while I realize that stopping the advent of a tax like this won't solve the essential problem of no reliable medical insurance for pets (in my dreams, I know) it certainly would make the underlying problem worse: First, for the sole fact of unnecessarily raising the cost of veterinary medicine (not "services") when so many people are having difficulty affording treatment as it is, and second, by reinforcing the idea that pets are a luxury item -- like a car or a vacation -- that has no intrinsic right to live and be happy.

As someone who's life has been devoted to the care and succor of animals, the whole idea of this thing is repugnant to me. So, if any of you feel the same, I strongly encourage you to do something about it. Because if a proposal like this passes in California, it won't be long before other states hop on the bandwagon and ride it over the cliff.

Snipped from Lynn Flewelling's weblog @ otterdance:

>>
Alert reader siarh has tracked down what we can do about it. Thanks!

Simply: 1) Call the Governor's office at 916-445-2841

2) Select your language choice. Press "1" for English.

3) Press "5"

4) Press "1" to select the issue of extending the sales tax to veterinary
services.

5) Press "2" to "OPPOSE" the Veterinary Services Tax proposal.
<<

And the address of the original article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100539251&ft=1&f=1017

Please, spread the word.

Sincerely,
A veterinarian who is already far too weary of being "Dr. Death"

Comments

[rchan.livejournal.com]

Yeah! Kitty pictures! BTW, if you're still online... check out my newest entry. ^_^ I have some kitty pictures of my own... *eg*