Pet registration fee bill that ruffled feathers no longer moving forward

(The Center Square) – A bill that would have required pet owners in Colorado to register and pay fees to the state for their pets was postponed indefinitely on Monday after a flood of pushback on social media.

Introduced last week by state Rep. Regina English, House Bill 24-1163 would have required the Department of Agriculture to create an online pet registration system and establish a state enterprise for per-animal fees.

The bill’s postponement was first reported by Denver7. English, who was the legislation’s sole sponsor, confirmed with The Center Square that the bill won’t be moving forward.

The legislation proposed an $8.50 annual fee per pet that has a “designated caregiver,” a $16 fee for dogs or cats that aren’t neutered or spayed, and a $25 fee for pets that don’t have a designated caregiver.

“The bill specifies that to own a pet animal without registering the pet animal; to refuse or fail to comply with the provisions of the bill … is unlawful,” a summary of HB 24-1163 said in part. The bill included a civil penalty of up to $100 per violation.

The legislation defined a pet as any “dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, mouse, rat, gerbil, ferret, bird, fish, reptile, amphibian, invertebrate or any other species of wild or domestic or hybrid animal six months of age or older,” and excluded livestock.

The proposal drew widespread criticism on social media, as well as groups that formally opposed the legislation.

​​The United States Association of Reptile Keepers called HB 24-1163 “a new level of big government and big taxes,” and put out a pre-written email and voice message for constituents to send lawmakers in opposition.

“This bill goes too far and creates an overreaching new tax. For many Colorado pet owners, the new tax would be several hundred to more than $1,000 annually just to own the pets that they already have!” the group’s sample email said. “Many people have more than 100 pet fish or they may be propagating saltwater corals. Both are included as ‘pet animals’ per this bill.”