Arnold Schwarzenegger: Hero and savior to all the mere mortals being chased by liquid metal Terminators–and now, he’ll attempt to save California from it’s massive budget crisis by proposing to tax services such as veterinary care.

So if you thought paying for a vet visit didn’t make you cringe enough as it is, imagine a 9 percent tax being tacked on to the bill.

The California Department of Finance says other services and activities such as auto repair, amusement parks and sporting events are all being considered for some sort of tax to help bandage the $41 billion wound in the state budget.

Personally, putting a tax on a Disneyland ticket or Dodger game seems reasonable; those are luxuries anyway. Vet visits are a requirement for my pets, and I would grin and bear the 9 percent vet tax if required to do so if I lived in California. However, plenty of other people might not make the same choice.

People are already abandoning pets because for financial reasons. A vet tax just adds to the burden and gives people one more reason for choosing to give up their animals. Of course, a huge number of these animals just find their way to local (and often state-funded) shelters.

In reality, a vet tax would do little, if anything, to ease California’s budget burden. Let’s save the extra taxes for the luxuries, and help people continue to afford the necessities.