The HAPPY Act

I try to stay up to date on what's going on in the world, but it can be difficult sometimes with so much on my plate. This past week while checking my Facebook I noticed an update from NPR on a tax break for our four legged friends and it clearly caught my eye.

The article is entitled, "A Four-Figure Tax Break For A Four-Legged Friend?" and it discusses the idea of giving pet owners tax deductions on their animal care expenses. They're calling it the HAPPY Act. Representative McCotter from Michigan is pushing for this to go thru while many others are on the fence or simply against the idea. For example, in the article there is a reaction to the HAPPY Act from a Georgia woman who says, "are you kidding?" "Pets are an option." And she's right, pets are an option...but so are children and no one's complaining about the tax deductions you get for having kids. Obviously when choosing to get an animal, as an owner, you need to be prepared for the worst because pets get sick (like children), pets sometimes need daycare (like children), and pets eat (....like children). But the unexpected happens, we've all seen it! You lose your job and coincidentally the exact same week "Lucy" gets hit by a car.

Maybe those who are against the HAPPY Act should go spend an entire month volunteering at an animal shelter and truly see the vast number of pets who are dropped in the middle of the night at the shelter's doors. There are many pet owner's who find themselves in tough times and are no longer able to care for their furry kids, but maybe if they were able to receive these tax deductions for being a pet owner they'd be able to negate some of the costs and not have to abandon their pets.

I think what bothers me most about this whole thing is the enormous line people place between animals and children. There are some of us who don't necessarily see much of a difference between the two and believe pets are another member of the family.

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Furry Friend of the Day is........... PIRATE!!!

I found Pirate on the Humane Society of Greater Dayton (Ohio) website. He's a 7 month old terrier mix (obviously) who seems to be new to the Humane Society.
I absolutely adore how scruffy he is!!! I love his crazy wired-hair look!