In all these cases, the owner is showing themselves taking responsibility, on a regular basis, will a fee involved.

I think it could be argued that paying for tags/registration, and with states that require it, annual inspections is the same. For all three, the government doesn't look into your performance as a pet owner, parent, or driver unless there is a concern as to your ability to be responsible. For example, a cop wouldn't inquire about you as a parent unless they see you mistreating your child in public, nor would they inquire you as a driver unless they see you driving improperly.

So for the driving, you're imposing additional tests, additional challenges that imposes upon a person's ability to be a free, independent citizen in a country that often requires the burden of car ownership to be able to be fully free and independent. There is no regularly scheduled state test to be a pet owner and there is no state test to be a parent. To be honest, I'd argue that regularly scheduled state tests for all three are unfair because they impede on us.