The Humane Society of the United States and two Missouri-based non-profit animal groups are waiting to hear if the State Supreme Court will take up their appeal on what they describe as a crippling regulation.
The plaintiffs say the animal adoption tax levied on non-profit shelters and rescue groups can cost them up to $2,500 a year, making it hard to feed and find homes for the animals in their care. Amanda Good is the HSUS State Director for Missouri.
“For the smaller shelters, that’s actually a significant chunk of their budget, money that should be spent on helping the animals and caring for the animals," Good said.
Good also accuses Republican lawmakers of trying to “get even” with them for backing the anti-puppy mill ballot measure in 2010.
“I think that it was kind of viewed as a punishment for being on the opposite side of the breeders during Proposition B, and so I think that that’s part of the reason that it came in the legislation in 2011," Good said.
The lawsuit over the pet adoption tax claims that Missouri lawmakers slipped it into an unrelated bill, thus violating the single-subject clause. A lower court dismissed the suit earlier this year. The office of State Senator Mike Parson (R, Bolivar) was contacted for this story, but so far no one in his office has responded. Parson, along with Governor Jay Nixon (D), was one of the driving forces behind 2011's "Missouri Solution" which rolled back some of the voter-approved regulation in Prop B.
Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter: @MarshallGReport
