Puerto Rico Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz has filed Senate Bill 1571 to create a $300 tax credit for each eligible dog or cat adopted from a licensed animal shelter or refuge, capped at two animals per taxpayer per year. The credit would be paid in three phases: 20% in the first tax year, 40% in the second, and the balance in the third, with all three credits claimable only if the owner proves custody and provides responsible care.
The bill sets an annual limit of 2,000 credits and a total nominal value of $600,000. To fund the initiative, the measure would raise the special stamp on animal vaccination and health certificates from $2 to $5. The current $2 would keep flowing to the College of Veterinary Physicians; of the new $3, one dollar would go to vaccination and sterilization events, another dollar to a new special fund for the State Office for Animal Control, and the remaining two dollars to finance the tax credit, which would only be viable if enough pet owners keep vaccination schedules.
The bill’s stated premise is that other jurisdictions, including Pennsylvania, New York, California and Massachusetts, use or are evaluating such credits. The bill leaves unclear how the Treasury Department would verify that owners meet the care requirement or how violations would be identified, saying only that the Secretary may establish reasonable corroboration methods without excessive administrative burdens.