PetPAC Remains Opposed to SB 250

PetPAC, representing over 65,000 pet owners remains opposed to Senate Bill 250, Florez as amended., Regardless of statements by the author and proponents, SB 250 will result in tragic unintended consequences. SB 250 makes it a criminal penalty, an infraction, to not license your dogs. It requires a punishment of mandatory surgical sterilization if an owner does not have an intact dog license. It allows local cities to impose an additional fee upon a fee. ” (d) The licensing agency may assess a fee for the procedures related to the issuance, denial, or revocation of an unaltered dog license consistent with this chapter.”

The dog owner must pay an unaltered license fee, then pay an additional fee just to cover procedural costs for the unaltered license fee. How crazy is that?

SB 250 assumes most dog owners pay their license fees. However, the norm is most pet owners do not license their animals. The rate of licensing, in reality, is probably lower than 20% throughout the state.

Unacceptable as this may be, it is reality. There are over 9 million dogs and cats owned by California citizens. The reasons for failure to license are numerous. Arbitrary dog limit laws stop many owners from licensing all of their animals. Local Mandatory Spay/Neuter (MSN), huge licensing fees, distrust of local government, and distrust of animal services all reduce licensing. Thousands upon thousands of elderly and poor cannot afford licensing. Many non-English speaking citizens aren't aware of the laws to license their pets.

Like all mandated spay/neuter laws (MSN), many pet owners faced with huge fines, criminal penalties, and surgical costs, will disavow ownership of their animals and remand them to shelters. This results in more overcrowding of shelters, more dogs and cats being killed, and higher costs of enforcement. Licensing will again plummet. Less pet owners will take their dogs and cats to veterinarians for treatment and cause a rise in suspicion and fear of local government.

When pet owners refuse to pay fees, penalties, and impound costs associated with mandatory spay and neuter requirements, costs in the millions will fall upon the shoulders of local government.

Proponents falsely promote the notion mandatory spay and neuter, will save $250 million in local shelter costs. This notion has been proven false. Proponents failed to include in their report personnel costs required by shelters regardless of population. These personnel costs amount to approximately 90% of total shelter expenses according to L.A. Animal Services Annual Report.

SB 250 outlaws natural dog and cat owners. There are hundreds of thousands of owners in California. In effect SB 250 could turn law abiding citizens into law breakers subject to criminal penalties. It is outrageous to create a new crime for owning a natural animal. Dogs have been associated with man since we learned to walk upright.

The research and conclusions PetPAC brought forward opposing mandatory spay and neuter, have now been accepted by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ASPCA, the American Veterinary Medical Association AVMA, the California Department of Finance, The Illinois Veterinary Medical Association, and The California Veterinary Medical Association (in their opposition to AB 1634).

The City Controller of Los Angeles says it doesn’t have the money to enforce MSN. The animal kill rate in Los Angeles since MSN was introduced has gone up 31% in a year. The Cities of San Diego, San Francisco, Huntington Beach, Manteca and others have turned away from MSN.

Also opposed are over 800 dog and cat clubs, every national law enforcement dog group, hunting groups, NRA, farm and cattle groups, service animal groups, hearing impaired, guide dogs and hundreds of individual veterinarians, as well as thousands of pet owners.

Because of the $23 billion plus deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger and lawmakers are considering taking more billions away from local government. SB 250 will increase that financial burden on local government because of unpaid fines, fees and surgeries. The governor is now threatening to reduce shelter holding days to 3. That decision will result in thousands more shelter animals killed. Why do proponents of SB 250 want to kill more dogs and cats?

There are so many proven benefits to dog and cat ownership, whether natural or sterilized that to potentially turn owners into criminals is beyond belief. When California is faced with a $23 billion deficit, to add more local costs is reckless. It is legislation like SB 250 that turns citizens against their lawmakers. The anger and disconnect voters feel about lawmakers is exacerbated by this type of legislation. It is no surprise approval ratings are dropping like a rock.

* Latest Field Poll: Views of State Legislature’s Performance – Disapprove 74%. Lowest level in Field Poll history.

The legislature needs to look at more positive ways to address the pet shelter population problem. PetPAC promotes the No Kill shelter method. No Kill can save over 90% of animals in shelters. It has proven itself in shelters throughout the country. PetPAC is sponsoring ACR 74, Portantino, in an attempt to bring No Kill to the forefront as the method all shelters should adopt.

We ask you to oppose SB 250 on the Senate floor. It is wrong, it will continue the mass killing of shelter animals, it cannot be enforced, and it just doesn’t work.

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