Pet allownace whilst on Social Welfare

paddyjoe183

Hey all,

Wondering if anyone knows about this as Ive heard this from a few different people but I cant seem to find out anything from the net....

Is there such a thing as pet allowance whilst claiming social welfare payments or pet food allowance?

Cheers

iPhone.

Yes you are allowed keep pets while on social welfare allowance , You probably get extra credits too depending on how big the animal is, but not totally sure about this.

Probably start out small at first with a horse and pony in the front garden and if it works out maybe move on to three or four more horses in the back garden too.

You could always let these graze the green areas in the housing estate when you are riding them up and down the footpaths for exercise too, to save even more on the feeding costs.

:D:D:D

Balagan

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/forms/blind-tax-credit.pdf

The above document sets out the criteria for qualifying for tax credits for blind persons who have a guide dog. You will note that documentation is needed from an opthalmic surgeon in respect of the blind person's condition and from the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind in respect of the guide dog.

There is no 'pet allowance' from the Department of Social Protection for those on social welfare payments. The matter came up in the Dail last year and the year before:

75. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Minister for Social Protection if a dog owner in receipt of social welfare allowance may receive extra payment for dog food; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11094/11]

Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Joan Burton): The position remains as advised in question number 146 which was answered for the Deputy on 1 December 2010. There are no payments made by the Department of Social Protection towards the cost of caring for a dog.
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2011/05/12/00064.asp

Delancey

Not the first time this question has been asked , it is I suspect , a false story spread by the anti-social welfare brigade who seek to portray everyone on Social Welfare as some kind of sponger.
There is indeed no such thing as a' Pet Allowance '.

Interestingly enough when I was last at my local vets there were 2 women enquiring as to whether there was a '' Medical card for pets '' !!

Heather21

Hillarius Delancey the 2 women enquiring bout medical cards. Have to say I read somewhere too that there is an allowance for people on social welfare to feed pets. I'm sure theres a few that will know all their entitlements. Please enlighten us if this is true??

Balagan

Delancey wrote: »

Not the first time this question has been asked , it is I suspect , a false story spread by the anti-social welfare brigade who seek to portray everyone on Social Welfare as some kind of sponger.
There is indeed no such thing as a' Pet Allowance '.

Interestingly enough when I was last at my local vets there were 2 women enquiring as to whether there was a '' Medical card for pets '' !!

It can be extremely difficult for people who are losing their jobs to deal with bills when pets become ill. Anyone with pets know that the charges can be very high. Bad enough when the pet belongs to adults only but when there are children involved, it is a true nightmare. There is pet insurance but in order to meet the criteria you have to ensure that the pets receive all their shots etc., and the insurance will not pay up if any have been missed and the animals subsequently become ill. Some vets are very good at reducing the charges when they know there is financial difficulty, so always good to ask.

hawthorne

Heather21 wrote: »

Hillarius Delancey the 2 women enquiring bout medical cards. Have to say I read somewhere too that there is an allowance for people on social welfare to feed pets. I'm sure theres a few that will know all their entitlements. Please enlighten us if this is true??

Absolutely no truth in this.Neither pet allowance nor animal medical card is existing.
It is a rumor which was deliberately spread to discredit people on social welfare as total freeloaders- nothing else.

mathepac

It's a special allowance paid by CWOs in Limerick in particular.

There was a publicity campaign about it late last year I think. The prime-movers were two local lads singing "I've a Horse Outside" to a video about a traveller wedding, I think.

Delancey

Balagan wrote: »

It can be extremely difficult for people who are losing their jobs to deal with bills when pets become ill. Anyone with pets know that the charges can be very high. Bad enough when the pet belongs to adults only but when there are children involved, it is a true nightmare. There is pet insurance but in order to meet the criteria you have to ensure that the pets receive all their shots etc., and the insurance will not pay up if any have been missed and the animals subsequently become ill. Some vets are very good at reducing the charges when they know there is financial difficulty, so always good to ask.

Absolutely , a sick animal can be a huge worry to someone on a low income and Pet Insurance although great can amount to a cost that some people just cannot stretch to.
Thankfully in Dublin at least there is the Blue Cross dispensary for those on low incomes.

As already said , the nonsense about a pet allowance is anti-social welfare receipient propaganda , perhaps the tiny grain of truth is the allowance for guide dogs only and that has been blown out of all proportion.

As much as I love animals even I would draw the line at state-funded veterinary care , no ' medical cards ' for pets if I was Taoiseach