In an obvious attempt to get revenge for recent legislation that radically raised the price of disposable dishes and utensils – severely affecting the hareidi religious population which relies heavily on such items – the United Torah Judaism party has proposed a bill that would exponentially raise the annual price for registering one’s dog.
The bill, proposed by UTJ MK Moshe Gafni and UTJ MK Uri Maklev, raises the current annual fee (NIS 50 for dogs that are spayed or neutered) to NIS 3,500 (nearly $1,100) regardless of the dog’s reproductive status.
Israelis with two dogs would be forced to pay double, meaning the annual registration fee for one’s dogs would total at least NIS 7,000, or $2,200.
But don’t worry, dog lovers: Yisrael Beytenu’s MK Oded Forer, who serves as Agriculture Minister, has vowed to ensure the proposed measure will not pass.
Gafni claims the bill is aimed at improving the environment, saying that dogs eat large amounts of processed meat, thus emitting carbon that affects the climate, and that their waste, picked up with plastic bags, causes harm to the environment.
The MK claims that dogs “harm the delicate ecological balance” in a clear dig at the recent extreme price hike for disposable utensils and dishes, aimed at reducing ecological damage.
Gafni also claimed money raised by the price hike would be used to help limit Israel’s street cat population. He didn’t specify how that would be done.
Yesh Atid MKs Yasmin Fridman and Yoray Lahav Hertzanu likewise vowed to block the UTJ effort, calling the proposed bill “delusional” and the proposed dog fee hike a “fine. . .under the guise of helping the climate crisis.”
