JEFFERSON CITY, MO (AP) — A Missouri lawmaker is proposing tax credits for pet owners who adopt.

State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal of University City recently filed a bill for a $300 tax credit for pet adoptions.

Cats and dogs would need to be adopted from a licensed animal shelter, contract kennel or pound for the owner to receive the credit.

Owners who return their pet to the shelter within a year wouldn’t be eligible for the tax credit, and the credit could only be claimed the year of the adoption.

The tax credit also would only be issued if lawmakers appropriate enough money to fund it.

Last summer, the democratic state senator who represents part of Ferguson called Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon a “coward” for his response to the fatal shooting of Michael Brown and the protests that followed.