No, pet expenses would not be a deductible business expense for a child day-care operation.
To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary.
- An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your industry.
- A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary.
While it can sometimes be nice to have a pet around to entertain children, a "pet" is not an ordinary and necessary fixture in a child-daycare - the dog in question is a pet. It would be an entirely different matter if you kept a dog in your building supply operation's fenced-in storage yard for security purposes, but that would not be a pet.
This information is found in Publication 535, Business Expenses.
