FACT OF THE DAY: Fictitious Sales Tax Revenue

The fanatic supporters of SB460 are espousing a new claim that the licensing of commercial breeders will bring a sales tax revenue boon to North Carolina and offset the cost of enforcement by NCDA. This windfall of $720,000 in sales tax is based on the assumption that every one of the 15 females will be bred twice in one year and produce 5 puppies each litter. The estimate continues by using a multiplier of 200 licensed facilities.

This fuzzy math is problematic on several levels but the most glaring is that the Fiscal Note attached to SB460 plainly states that while there are at least 200 commercial breeders operating in North Carolina; of these, only 79 are known to have more than 15 female dogs.

200 high volume breeders do not equate to a state-wide crisis despite the hysterical opinions of HSUS and anti-breeder forces. Most certainly 79 kennels do not justify an expenditure in excess of $400,000 over the next few years during a budget crisis. This expense cannot be absorbed by NCDA and cannot be passed off to county animal control departments that are already understaffed and underfunded.