Tax on Animals.

Today I learned that the Yerevan municipality has proposed a 5,000 Dram (15-20 USD) tax on animals. This would apply to pets like fish, dogs, parakeets and such.

I have one question, though. Does this apply to the rats that live in the elevator chutes in the high-rise apartment buildings in Yerevan? Meaning, does the Yerevan municipality pay the residents 5,000 Drams for every rat that lives on municipality property?

Seriously, there are a lot of lonely and elderly people with very little income that keep a cat or a dog as a companion. How are these people going to afford to pay the 5,000 tax?

Here I see a lot of homeless people who have a dog as a companion. It would be outrageous if my cash-strapped municipality even thought of taxing pets.