Spay Neuter Pet Bill Dies

[RedGlitter]

Bill to require pets be fixed dies

The author pulls the proposal after it raises hackles of a Senate panel and thousands of pet lovers. It may return.

By Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Writer

July 12, 2007

SACRAMENTO — A bill to require Californians to spay or neuter their pets or face stiff fines was pulled from consideration for this year by its author Wednesday after it ran into strong objections from members of a state Senate panel.

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) said he hopes to resurrect the idea in January.

Levine said he would consider amending the legislation, as suggested by a member of the Senate committee, to limit a proposed $500 fine to owners whose unaltered dogs and cats are picked up while running loose by animal control officers or are discovered at homes during investigations into other violations.

"I think we can get to a solution," Levine told the Senate Local Government Committee and an overflow crowd at a Capitol hearing room. "But the first thing opponents must do is to acknowledge that there is a problem and work with me to solve it."

Levine's legislation, AB 1634, had cleared the Assembly with no votes to spare June 6, but ran into opposition in the Senate after about 10,000 pet owners, breeders, guide-dog owners and police officers objected that it would infringe on their rights and use of animals.

A similar number of pet owners and animal control experts had lobbied for the bill, making it one of the most hotly contested pieces of state legislation this year.

About 20 people testified for or against the bill Wednesday.

Backers said the mandate for dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered at 6 months is justified because 454,000 unclaimed cats and dogs are put to death each year in California shelters at a cost of about $300 million.

Despite previous amendments to allow work dogs, show animals and breeder animals to obtain exemptions from being neutered, it became clear to Levine that the five-member committee was not prepared to vote it out to the full Senate.

Sen. Gloria Negrete-McLeod (D-Chino), the committee chairwoman, told Levine that her family has cared for stray dogs and cats for years and has always acted responsibly and had them spayed or neutered.

"I don't think I appreciate being charged with something that I already do naturally," she said.

Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach), another member of the panel, said his family has had hunting dogs for years, and that the proposal to require dogs to be spayed or neutered at 6 months would interfere with the breeding of hunting dogs that are often not selected until they are more than 18 months old.

"There needs to be something in the bill for those working dogs," he said.

Sen. Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) suggested the amendment that would limit the fine and the spay-and-neuter requirement to those animals picked up by shelter workers.

"One of the fear factors around this bill, and there are a lot of them, is that it's too broad, that responsible owners would be subject to having to take action on their pets, that it's not fair," Kehoe told Levine.

The assemblyman offered to accept the amendment if the committee would vote the bill out of committee, but there did not appear to be the votes.

"If you are talking about taking amendments this morning on the fly, that's not acceptable," said Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks).

As a result, Levine asked that the bill be shelved until January.

"We'll take our time," Levine told reporters afterward. "We've got six months to work to educate the committee and work on the amendment.

"The amendment would have just said if you are in violation of other animal laws then you have to spay or neuter your animal. It would not have penalized otherwise law abiding citizens," Levine added.

However, opponents, who have formed the group PetPAC, will continue to organize in preparation for any attempt next year to resurrect the legislation.

"We're very pleased" that the bill was withdrawn, said Bill Henby, chairman of PetPAC.

"We will regroup and continue to grow our coalition so that by the time this comes back in January we hope to be representing over a million dog and cat owners."

Asked about the proposed amendment that would narrow the legislation, Henby said, "We are still concerned."

Wednesday's hearing was not without its light moments. Attendees included the ninth generation of the film star Lassie, and the collie's owner, Bob Weatherwax, an opponent of the bill.

When told of the dog's presence, Negrete-McLeod said to the bill's opponents, "OK, but if Lassie is going to talk it's going to count against you" for time.

The chairwoman also found humor in a mistake in the text of a written argument submitted for the bill.

"I don't think you meant that you want 'spay and neuter programs for low-income individuals,' " she quipped.

Still, at the conclusion of the 1 1/2 -hour hearing, Levine said he ended this year's fight for the bill with a bitter taste in his mouth.

"I've been personally attacked and vilified," he said. "I am very upset. I will stipulate that my opponents love their animals. We have different approaches to how to solve the problem. But I don't like the fact that it's gotten personal."

*******

Thousands of dogs and cats being gassed and injected every week is something everyone ought to take personally. RG

[spot]

What was proposed is not at all clear in that report.

The bill as introduced is at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bil ... duced.html

There were quite a number of proposed amendments in committee, most of them incompatible with each other and mostly intended to get the bill stopped.

The bill as introduced was simple enough. Pay for a licence to keep a breeding animal or have it fixed so it can't.

The bill-killing centred on "oh we're responsible, we don't have unwanted pregnancies so we shouldn't have to pay". The attempted fix was to say okay, if no animal inspector is called to look at your fertile pet you don't have to get a licence.

There's a lot of bull-necked owners out there who legitimately strut when their four-legged childkiller sniffs the neighbour's poodle bitch. That's why they own the dog in the first place, to look tough. So, here's my compromise solution. Halve the cost of the entire program. Just treat or licence the females. The effect of the program is identical.

[RedGlitter]

That's an issue I've debated with a lot of animal people, Spot. Whether or not to fix just the males or just the females. It seems the female would be the likely choice as you'd know nothing would happen then, but snipping the male is far less invasive a procedure. Maybe that's a moot point, as there will always be those stubborn fools who put their wants and misinformed opinions about neutering before the benefit of any cat or dog they own.

I'm not surprised the bill died, just disappointed.

[spot]

RedGlitter;659001 wrote: snipping the male is far less invasive a procedure.I had it in mind that one unsnipped male out of a hundred gives you a hundred pregnancies, while one unspayed female out of a hundred gives you only one. It does seem a situation in which logic has a valid perspective.

[Ciao, Bella!]

I say do them both. We just took our youngest cat in for spaying, no more yowling in heat.



As long as people think they can breed for money, whether or not their animals are "papered", they'll do so. In the past month here, 62 pit bulls have been seized, for neglect and dog fighting. 62 in 30 days. Do the math.

[RedGlitter]

Wow. 63? That's sickening.

[Pheasy]

All my cats and dogs have been fixed. I've seen to many neglected and homeless animals!

[Mollysmom]

Yes feamale cats need to be spayed too. My 10 month old kitty started peeing down my heat/air vents. had her fixed last last month.Hubby is upset he now has to take apart and replace duct work. also peed several places on the carpets. hard smell to get out. as a matter of fact thats what i should be doing now.gotta go,i've been on the computer too long.

[nvalleyvee]

I have always believed in spay/neuter. I still haven't gotten Yanna spayed.....$140.00 I just do not have yet. I do have a high fence with barbed wire on it. Why the barbed wire? It used to be a bar.

[RedGlitter]

NVV, did you contact any of those animal groups we told you about for possible help with the spay?

[nvalleyvee]

RedGlitter;659813 wrote: NVV, did you contact any of those animal groups we told you about for possible help with the spay?


Oh yea... I make too much money to qualify. BTS has been on WC for a while and we are strapped at the moment.

But heck we could sell our house, I could quit my job and we could go on food stamps so we would qualify. But then I wouldn't have room for my pup to run and that would be cruel.

[RedGlitter]

Hmm. One of those deals huh. My group used to help out a lot pf people who we knew could afford it just so they'd get the job done. Suckers I guess we were. How about a yard sale? Seriously. Got any kids in the neighborhood? Have them collect spare change for the Yanna Fund. Ask a classroom to adopt Yanna as their mascot and raise money to spay her. That way you could also teach them the importance of neutering and responsibility and Yanna could visit the class. I'm just throwing out some ideas here. Spay where I live is about $200 for a dog. About $100 for a cat.

[nvalleyvee]

RedGlitter;659824 wrote: Hmm. One of those deals huh. My group used to help out a lot pf people who we knew could afford it just so they'd get the job done. Suckers I guess we were. How about a yard sale? Seriously. Got any kids in the neighborhood? Have them collect spare change for the Yanna Fund. Ask a classroom to adopt Yanna as their mascot and raise money to spay her. That way you could also teach them the importance of neutering and responsibility and Yanna could visit the class. I'm just throwing out some ideas here. Spay where I live is about $200 for a dog. About $100 for a cat.


Not a bad idea at all!!! We've been meaning to have a garage sale for a while. Thanks for giving meaning to selling our junk. :-6

[RedGlitter]

nvalleyvee;659828 wrote: Not a bad idea at all!!! We've been meaning to have a garage sale for a while. Thanks for giving meaning to selling our junk. :-6


Hey, you're very welcome, NVV! Glad I could be of help.

[nvalleyvee]

RedGlitter;659830 wrote: Hey, you're very welcome, NVV! Glad I could be of help.


I would feel really bad if my sweet little Mutt-Mutt had future pound puppy Mutts of her own.

[RedGlitter]

nvalleyvee;659838 wrote: I would feel really bad if my sweet little Mutt-Mutt had future pound puppy Mutts of her own.


I know you would.....and you know how determined male dogs can be. Fence be damned! They're getting in. You should be able to raise what you need with a yard sale I would think. Maybe a 2-day sale. Good luck!!

[zinnia]

There are reasons to spay/neuter both sexes. I'm in Southern California, where the Bill would have been in effect.

If the females aren't spayed, then they go in to heat cycles. All it takes for a dog fight (leaving a dog or two injured or dead) is for two intact males to be around a female in heat.

Male dogs that are not neutered are more likely to 'roam' (i.e. run away.)

Intact males are also more aggressive: around other dogs, especially around other male dogs.

Dogs that are not spayed/neutered are three times more likely to bite kids.

And neutering also means that male dogs won't deal with prostrate problems when they are older.

Saying all of that, I have very mixed feelings about the bill.

In LA, the fee to license a dog is $15, UNLESS the animal is intact. Intact animals cost $100 to license. Southern California has tried to address the overpopulation issue through licensing fees. However, I don't know that many intact animals end up licensed.

Plus, 40% of the population is Latino, and historically, the Latino culture does not consider dogs to be family members.

In addition, LA being what it is, there are many, many different viewpoints on how animals should be treated:

• Lots of people turn dogs into the animal shelter if they get sick or start getting older. Other folks are mortified at the thought, and believe those pets should be re-homed.

• There are lots of rural and ag areas around LA that have working dogs. So working dogs and pups of working lines end up in the regional animal shelters, then are rescued and end up adopted into suburban or urban households. Also, people buy border collie pups or other herding dogs from working or show lines, without realizing that they have just created a recipe for disaster.

• There are so many stray dogs here, it is hard to comprehend. Lots of pit bulls, and am staffs are bred to fight, and some of those dogs end up on the street. Strays get picked up by animal control or by a rescue and then get adopted out. A dog could have been trained to fight, but if you adopt the dog you won't know that until it is too late.

Dog rescue in SC has become a big business, and nonprofit status has helped draw in tawdry and scammy players.

Common tactics I've seen:

• bait and switch

• price changing

• lying about a dog's background and the breed

• failing to inform a family of vital information (that the dog is an escape artist with a history of getting out and running away, or has bitten someone)

• lying about the dog's age, or medical condition

• BREEDING puppies to sell for premium prices

• Misrepresentation about actually being a rescue or about being a nonprofit, etc.

Having tried to adopt a dog recently, I was strung along for a few weeks regarding a puppy that I was interested in. The puppy went up in a puff of smoke before I ever saw it, and I was selected as appropriate for fostering dogs, or perhaps adopting an older dog.

Rescues very often have first pick of the dogs that end up in animal shelters. They take pups, plus well-mannered, pure-bred, and cute dogs that will be easy to adopt out and charge a couple of hundred dollars in adoption fees. (In LA, rescues can acquire shelter pets for as little as $5.50!!!)

Puppies generally require $250 minimum to rescue. And if you're looking for a specific breed, you'll need a savings account.

Rescue adoptions can require extensive applications that contain amazing amounts of private and financial information. Groups may require the app before you are allowed to see any animals. Many also require home visits, or even recurring home visits in order to consider you. Some rescue groups will only adopt to homeowners; or to people with children, or to people without children, etc.

In my experience, dealing with the animal shelters is heartbreaking. Dealing with rescue organizations is hit or miss, and demoralizing.

I doubt the bill would make an impact in all the muck :-5

[neffy]

i had all three of mine done,but i still regret having jj done:-1

[RedGlitter]

Welcome to FG, Zinnia.

Thank you for taking time to make such a good post.

I would like to address the animal rescue groups issue however, as I run one.

There are valid reasons why we do things the way we do.

A fence will prevent a dog from getting hit or attacked in his yard by other dogs.

Some dogs/cats aren't good with kids or have been abused by them and it's best for kids and dog/cat to not adopt to a couple with children.

I insist on home visits. I want to know where my dog or cat is going to live. I want to know you're not a buncher or Class B dealer who's pretending to be loving but is going to sell my dog or cat to a medical research facility.

I want to see if you have rusted nails and broken glass littering your yard where my dog will be walking.

I want to see how your children and anyone else in your house interacts with my dog before I turn him over to you.

I charge a fair adoption fee that doesn't even begin to offset the neutering or spay, the food, medical care, vaccinations, etc. If someone cannot afford my adoption fee then I know they can't afford proper care. Love doesn't pay the vet bills and you will have them when you have a pet.

I could go on but that's the gist of it. Some rescues *are* out to make a profit for more than the animals' sake, that's true. But most just want to place their pets in the best loving home possible. After we've spent heartache on saving their lives, we only want the best for them and these are ways we screen adopters.



These things are done