(From top) Singh, Rahul, Pilot: Nothing political

New Delhi, Jan. 24: Arjun Singh’s cow is set to burn a little hole in the human resource development minister’s pocket.

And — woof! — Rahul Gandhi could end up paying for his Jack Russell.

The Delhi government is planning to tax owners of pets — dogs, cats, horses and even cattle — to drill a “sense of responsibility” among animal lovers.

The government has drawn up amendments to its municipal laws to charge a cess that ranges from Rs 500 a year — for cats and dogs — to Rs 2,500 for buffaloes.

The cabinet has cleared the alterations and, officials said, the Assembly would deliberate on the changes during the budget session next month.

“We had earlier discussed the proposal with the Opposition (BJP). The BJP controls the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and they were consulted before the move. We expect the changes to go through,” a Delhi minister said.

The officials said the MCD (Amendment) Bill and the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill were aimed at ensuring the government had a regular count of pets in the capital.

“Once people have to pay for the pets, only those responsible enough to take care of them — pay for medicines, sterilisation, etc. — will keep them. Currently, many people who do not want to spend a paisa on the pet have animals at home,” the minister said.

If the Assembly clears the proposal, Rahul will be giving his Congress comrade Arjun company. He will be paying for Jack Russell, his dog named after the former English wicketkeeper.

Arjun was slammed by the high court recently for building an unauthorised cowshed at his official residence.

Sachin Pilot, whose chihuahua went missing for days at a stretch, would also be taxed, no matter how much his pet plays catch-me-if-you-can with Delhi police officers as it once did.

But animal rights activists fear the tax would “deter” all those who take home any animal they see lying injured on the streets and nurse them back to health. “The tax will prove a deterrent to all those animal lovers who take stray animals — especially dogs — home,” said Anuradha Sawhney, the head of the Indian chapter of the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Mumbai recently made it mandatory for dog owners to get a licence for each pet.

Sawhney, based in that city, said licences involved negotiating queues every year to renew the document. “The Delhi government needs to look at the Mumbai experience and see if they can achieve their aims in another way,” she said.