Pet owners gear up for spay-neuter law dogfight
July 21st, 2008 Posted in Pet PicturesThe state Legislature has pet owners barking up a storm once again.
Nearly a year after controversy stopped the mandatory spay and neuter bill in its tracks, the proposal is back, this time in a watered-down form that hasn’t ceased the “nanny-state” howls in Orange County and across the state.
While the original version of Assembly Bill 1634 called for sterilizing all puppies and kittens in California at 6 months old, the revised proposal affects only pets impounded several times by animal control agencies.
Supporters say the amendments offer gradual steps to control pet overpopulation, but opponents maintain it’s a “punishment looking for a crime.”
“The bottom line is that the bill still requires mandatory spaying and neutering as a punishment,” said William Hemby, the leader of a board coalition of more than 42,000 pet owners and 800 dog and cat clubs opposing the bill.
Hemby and other pet owners oppose the bill as unnecessary and unfair, but their central criticism is that it infringes on their personal rights.
“You try to mess with my kids, my pets, my home, I’m going to be quite upset,” said Diane Amendola, a Huntington Beach resident who went from no interest in politics to leading a grass-roots campaign against the bill.
“Let each community deal with its own problem. It’s not something for the entire state to fund or be responsible for,” she said.
Tags: amp, animal control, assembly bill, kitten, kittens, Pet, pet owners, pets, population, pup, puppies, spay and neuter, spaying and neuteringRelated posts
Tags: amp, animal control, assembly bill, kitten, kittens, Pet, pet owners, pets, population, pup, puppies, spay and neuter, spaying and neutering
