Every now and then somebody comes upon a law that is old, forgotten, and outdated.
Part of a bill in the Missouri legislature this year calls for discarding one such tax, approved more than eighty years ago. It was introduced in the Senate by Mike Moon. It has two weeks to get passed. But things are complicated by some possible political gamesmanship that might doom this and other tax reduction efforts. That’s for another day.
Most cities and counties require Fido, Spot, Lassie, etc., to have tags. But the kind of enforcement envisioned when the law was new never has happened.
The first part of the law went into effect in the 1930s—or maybe in the 20s— and other provisions were added through several more legislative sessions.
The language is pretty clear:
273.050. Dog tax, when due. — No dog shall be permitted to be and remain within the limits of the state unless the owner thereof, or someone for said owner, shall have caused such dog to be listed and the tax imposed by sections 273.040 to 273.180 to be paid on or before the first day of February of each year hereafter.
273.060. Amount of tax. — The tax on each male dog and each spayed female dog, of which the certificate of a veterinarian or the affidavit of the owner is produced, in this state shall be one dollar per year, and the tax on all other dogs in this state shall be three dollars per year, payable to the county clerk of the county in which the owner resides; provided, that any person or persons operating a licensed kennel of more than ten dogs in which all dogs kept by him or them are confined and not allowed to roam, shall pay a tax of ten dollars, which amount shall be the full amount of tax on all dogs kept by said person or persons as described above.
The fact that the tax is only a dollar, or three, is an indication that this is a really old law.
The law is still on the books.
The other sections of statute referred to in that paragraph give counties the right to vote on whether to require the licenses.
The fees would go into a fund to reimburse owners of livestock or poultry for losses incurred because of dogs—although it the dogs were theirs, they would get no money.
The town marshall was responsible for catching the delinquent pooches and holding them for a week. After that, the law required him to kill them. Humanely. Owners could get their pets back
The assessor had to make a “diligient inquiry” of property owners about the number of dogs they had and if, upon checking the courthouse records and finding no licenses issued to that address, would have to tell owners they needed to get right with the law.
Voters had to approve the tax at the local level. If they reconsidered later, a petition signed by 100 people could order a re-vote.
The Missouri Fox Hunters Association and the Missouri Field Trial Association objected strongly.
The law did not go over well in other places either. The Jefferson City Daily Capital News observed in its February 2, 1939 edition that “Eighteen counties north of the river voted the dog tax. Not a county south of the river voted for it. The north Missouri counties are strong for sheep. South of the river counties are partial to canines.” Twelve days later the newspaper reported, “Monroe County has between two and three thousand dogs but only 150 of them have an owner who thnks enough of them to pay the dog tax to save their scalps.”
The Moberly Monitor Index reported on February 3 that ten Monroe County farmers had filed claims for damages to their sheep. But since only four dog owners had paid the tax, it was unlikely the tax would produce enough money to pay the damages.
The Sikeston Daily Standard on March 10 called the tax “a joke” because the city had collected only seventeen dollars from the dog tax.
The Brookfield Argus noted on March 16, “There’s gloomy days ahead for ‘poor old Rover’” because the voter-approve tax had gone into effect. But only two of the probable 3,000 dogs in the county had been licensed and they belonged to Marceline Police Chief Rich Freeman and County Extension Agent Robert J. Hall. The tax, said the newspaper, “applies to all dogs, whether they are of the county variety or the sophisticated city type. Old Shep, Fidol Fluff, or Trixie all must wear the 1939 style of necllace or join that somber parade to the burial ground for dogs.” It does not appear much of such a parade was ever assembled.
Eventually, all of this resentment simmered down. We are expected to get new dog tags for our versions of Jim the Wonder Dog or Old Drum each year. We’ve never heard of a farmer getting dog tag money for replacement of dog-induced poultry or livestock death.
But we’re still supposed to get a tag and a collar for our best friend. Senator Mike Moon doesn’t think it’s a state issue. Or sholdn’t be.
Just thought you might find it interesting to learn how all of that started. Our dogs went without tags and dog owners went without pooch taxes for the better part of 120 years before state government decided our dogs couldn’t live in Missouri without tags and collars.
But then, big government stuck its nose into our dog houses.