Here is HB 882. The basic premise of this bill is if you adopt a pet from an approved shelter or rescue, you can get a one time tax credit of $100. There is wording in the bill limiting the use of the credit and it shouldn't allow for potential abuse. Approved shelters will probably be registered not for profits in the state, and the limits on the use of the credit will limit potential hoarding. I have to say that this put a smile on my face. (Especially after seeing a bill in Ohio that would criminalize fostering).
I'm all about this. If we incentivise pet adoption over pet sales, we will find it would greatly reduce the burden on city shelters and would save money (and lives) in the long run.
Pair this with Maryland's other resolution, HB 131 (which would require pet stores provide records on their pets, health disclosures, and provide purchaser remedies of certain health ailments) and I am greatly approving of the direction our neighbor state is moving. Puppy mills are often supplying the dogs in pet stores. This bill gives people the right to know where the dog came from and possible protections against any future illness of the pet with financial reimbursement.
By making stores financially responsible for selling sick pets, they would stop selling them. Imagine a "lemon law" for pet stores.
If either of these bills pass, it will be a rallying cry for other states to follow.
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