INDIANAPOLIS -- David Lifford was puzzled to discover that he was required to pay a tax for owning a dog. He was further perplexed when he learned that his neighbor -- also a dog owner -- didn't have to pay it.

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The key difference? Lifford owned a recreational vehicle, and the neighbor didn't.

"Never heard of a dog tax," Lifford told Call 6 for Help's Rafael Sanchez.

The tax, Sanchez reported, is real. State property assessment form 101 says that dog owners who own an RV, an all-terrain vehicle, a snowmobile or a human-powered boat must pay it.

Proceeds from the tax -- $2 for a neutered dog, $4 for one that isn't neutered -- go to farmers who lose livestock to wild canines.

The law says that dogs can be captured and destroyed if their owners don't pay the tax.

Katherine Price, assessor of Marion County's Perry Township, said she has neither the staff nor the time to enforce the dog-tax law.

"It would be virtually impossible," Price said. "We would have to have a separate division just to keep track of dogs (and) keep records of dogs, and none of the assessor offices in Marion County have the budget to be able to do such a thing."

See Dog-Tax Law