This Tourism City Applies Daily And Annual Taxes For Dogs

JAKARTA - This tourist city in Italy imposes daily and annual taxes on dogs, targeting local owners and tourists who come.

Dogs are pets who often travel by their own passports. In the midst of the overtourism era, the imposition of taxes on animals is inevitable, in order to compensate for the impacts caused on the environment.

Starting in 2026, dog owners visiting Bolzano City in northern Italy will be taxed daily at 1.50 euros or around Rp29,177, as part of a broader and controversial crackdown on dogs at the nature tourism destination, the "gate" towards the Dolomit Mountains.

However, this tax does not only target tourist dogs. Local residents' dogs are also subject to an annual tax of 11 euros (1,945,150) per dog.

The initiative aims to offset road clearing costs and fund new parks designed specifically for dogs and their owners.

This tax follows another controversial policy: requiring owners to pay the DNA registration fee for their dogs so that uncollected dirt can be matched with the perpetrators and fines imposed.

Dog owners who do not clean their pet droppings are currently facing fines of up to 600 euros (Rp 11,670,900) per violation.

Provincial Council member Luis Walcher, who filed the policy, said those who had complied with DNA registration would be exempt from this new levy for two years.

"This is a fair policy because it only concerns dog owners," he said, quoted by CNN, October 3.

"Otherwise, cleaning the sidewalks will be the responsibility of the entire community, even though it must be said that the only dirt on the streets of our city is dog droppings," he said.

However, not everyone is happy. Carla Rocchi of ENPA, the national animal protection agency, said the policy was detrimental to the region. "Bolzano's province scored an own goal with taxes on dogs and even four-legged tourists," he said in a statement.

"After the failure of the shocked and expensive dog DNA project, instead of focusing on citizenship education, targeted examinations, and citizen awareness, we again chose a shortcut: taxing animals and their owners," he said.

He said the policy not only harmed families and tourists who chose to travel with their dogs, but also sent a very wrong message: making animals taxpayers.

"It's really paradoxical in areas that rely on tourism and hospitality, we actually target those who choose a friendly and inclusive holiday, by bringing their four-legged friends and friends," he explained.

"Animals are not luxury goods, but an integral part of the family. Targeting them with new taxes does not solve the insipability problems experienced by a handful of people, but rather risks hindering responsible travel and, even worse, encouraging neglect," he said.