Sunday, August 10, 2008
When dogs attack goats, taxpayers pay
Christian Trejbal
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From the RoundTable blog
Montgomery County taxpayers recently paid $800 for two dead goats. They can thank their representatives in Richmond for the privilege.
Pandering to farmers is nothing new in American politics. Congress has been passing bloated farm bills for decades. The General Assembly simply took it to the next level in 1984 when it passed a law that requires localities to pay for dead livestock.
Not just any dead livestock, mind you, only livestock killed by dogs or canine hybrids. That latter category, added to the law in 1997, includes such things as wolf-coyote-Chihuahua mixes and, presumably, werewolves.
When a hungry dog feasts on a sheep, the owner may seek compensation from the dog's owner or, failing that, demand it from his local government. State code requires cities and counties reimburse up to $400 per animal and $10 per fowl.
So Montgomery County supervisors had little choice a couple of weeks ago when a resident presented two dead goats killed by a dog. The county forked over $800 that now will not pay for teachers, sheriff's deputies or anything else useful.
The dead goat market is in flux, too. Their value has skyrocketed in recent months. Back in April, the county only paid $100 for two of them. The cause of 700 percent inflation remains unclear. Maybe these most recent two goats were some sort of über-sheep.
Such payments are unusual, but hardly rare. Since 2003, the county has paid for two dead sheep, a dead horse, 14 dead chickens and a dead cow.
Despite the law's absurdity, lawmakers are loath to change it. In 1998, a bill to make payments optional died in a Senate committee. In 2004, another that would have cut maximum payments in half met a similar fate.
It's regrettable that uncontrolled canines sometimes kill people's pets or livestock. It's not, however, the public's problem. Two dead goats are not a major catastrophe that demands emergency government assistance. They are just run-of-the-mill bad luck.
Montgomery County does not pay car owners when a mystery ding appears in a parking lot. State code does not guarantee compensation to gardeners when rabbits and groundhogs devour broccoli and green beans.
If livestock owners worry about their investment, they can buy insurance. Bad dogs are not taxpayers' fault or responsibility.
Your thoughts
Let farmers and ranchers pay premiums to protect themselves from loss just like everyone else. If they choose not to insure their animals, then it is their problem when a big bad wolf hybrid comes after their little pigs.
Some of them might even have insurance already and still seek payment from counties. The law contains a loophole that allows them to double dip, collecting an insurance payment and then $400 from taxpayers.
What's so special about dogs anyway? There's no compensation when a cat kills livestock. If a tabby gets into the chicken coop, those chickens are just as dead.
If anything, Montgomery County should be more liable for cat problems. The local animal control officer and shelter at least try to keep stray dogs under control. They do nothing about feral cats.
State law also encourages Virginians to take dog problems into their own hands. Anyone who spots a dog chasing or attacking livestock or poultry may kill it on sight. A few dogs in Montgomery County wind up dead thanks to the law, and sometimes it involves a farmer opening fire on Fluffy, whose owners don't realize the danger their playful pooch faces around livestock.
Come to think of it, maybe these two stupid laws combine to form one incredibly stupid solution, so stupid it's brilliant.
Next time you see a border collie chasing a flock of sheep, think about taking it out. Sure, it might be herding, but can you really afford to take that risk? After all, if it kills a lamb, the owner will want some of your tax dollars.
All right, maybe not so brilliant.
A few dead canines might succeed where common sense fails and convince lawmakers to strike these absurd livestock laws from the books.
More likely, however, the General Assembly would just create a compensation program for dead dogs and taxpayers would be out even more money.
Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Valley bureau in Christiansburg.
