Traveling To This Popular City In Italy With A Dog Will Soon Come With An Additional Daily Price

Tourist taxes have become a standard item in many travelers' expense spreadsheets. Many cities have imposed taxes on visitors via hotel stays or entry fees, while some destinations have ramped up charges in a bid to slow down overtourism. Amsterdam, the European city with the highest tourist tax, charges an extra 12.5% on top of nightly hotel rates, while Bhutan's Daily Sustainable Development Fee has tourists forking over $100 per visit. But Bolzano, South Tyrol's small, underrated sunny Italian city that's a gateway to the Dolomites, has set its sights on taxing a different kind of tourist — the family dog.

That's right: tourists bringing their dogs on holiday in Bolzano will have to add another travel expense to the list: a daily tax of €1.50 ($1.75) per dog (at time of writing). Where exactly does this doggy tax go? Apparently, this levy will fund the cleaning of dog waste from the city streets. This doesn't mean your dog gets bathroom rights all over the city, though. Dog owners will still have to scoop up after their pets, at the risk of paying the city's fines that range between €200 and €600 ($234 to $702) if caught. "In a perfect world, there would be no rude people and no abandoned droppings," South Tyrolean councilor Luis Walcher said in a report by local news outlet Il Sole 24 Ore. Future dog parks are also projected to be created with the tax funds. 

But it's not only foreign dogs who are affected by this policy. Should the provincial bill pass, local dog owners can expect the return of a yearly dog tax that was halted in 2008. Once it kicks off in 2026, it will cost €100 ($117) per dog. 

If you find this law barking mad, know that it replaced a more over-the-top — and ultimately failed — measure to curb dog waste in Bolzano two years ago: the collection of canine DNA samples to identify the dog owners of the errant droppings left on the city's streets. The turnout of the campaign was dismal, with only 12,000 out of 30,000 dog owners registering their pets' DNA. After the dog DNA fiasco, though, the dog owners who complied with the program have something to celebrate — they get a two-year exemption from the yearly dog tax.

The impending dog tax received some support from the public. "Good. There should be, since the dog will inevitably create waste that needs to be cleaned up, and we all know owners aren't going to do that," wrote one Reddit user. Another commenter on a separate Reddit post suggested that such a tax would end up being "very profitable." However, Italian animal rights groups and city officials, including Bolzano mayor Claudio Corrarati, have openly opposed the proposed law, criticizing the tax as "choosing the easy way out," according to CNN. 

This controversial measure runs counter to the pet-forward initiatives embraced elsewhere in Italy, such as the recently-opened luxury dog hotel at Rome's Fiumicino Airport, or Italian airlines green-lighting medium- and large-sized dogs to fly in cabin as opposed to cargo. If you're traveling in Italy with your four-legged companion, perhaps consider Rome instead, where there's a wholesome pet-sitting service that watches your dog for free while you visit museums.