On behalf of its nearly 1.3 million California constituents, The Humane Society of the United States appeared before the state legislative Budget Conference Committee to urge consideration of the serious and adverse implications of the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to suspend the "animal adoption mandate," which would have the effect of reducing by three days the holding period for stray dogs and cats in the state's municipal animal shelters.
The Governor is advancing this proposal as a means of generating savings during the state's budget crisis.
The holding period is the period of time that a shelter must hold stray dogs or cats before they can be adopted to new families or euthanized. The current requirement that stray dogs and cats be held for at least four or six days (depending on hours of operation) was established by the 1997 passage of the Hayden bill, a body of law that includes other provisions aimed at increasing the number of animals adopted from the state's shelters.
The intent of the Hayden law's provision that stray animals be held an additional three days is two-fold: (1) to give pet owners more time to locate lost animals and (2) to give unclaimed animals more time to either be adopted or transferred to an animal rescue group.
Of course, none of this keeps the shelters from keeping the dogs and cats as long as they want. But currently the Hayden Act reimburses them for the dogs they keep and then euthanize. This would eliminate that reimbursement. There is no reimbursement for dogs and cats that are adopted. The Commission on Animal Mandates has pointed that out as an unintended consequence of the Act. It rewards the shelters that do not find homes for their animals and penalizes those that do.
The Governor is advancing this proposal as a means of generating savings during the state's budget crisis.
The holding period is the period of time that a shelter must hold stray dogs or cats before they can be adopted to new families or euthanized. The current requirement that stray dogs and cats be held for at least four or six days (depending on hours of operation) was established by the 1997 passage of the Hayden bill, a body of law that includes other provisions aimed at increasing the number of animals adopted from the state's shelters.
The intent of the Hayden law's provision that stray animals be held an additional three days is two-fold: (1) to give pet owners more time to locate lost animals and (2) to give unclaimed animals more time to either be adopted or transferred to an animal rescue group.
Of course, none of this keeps the shelters from keeping the dogs and cats as long as they want. But currently the Hayden Act reimburses them for the dogs they keep and then euthanize. This would eliminate that reimbursement. There is no reimbursement for dogs and cats that are adopted. The Commission on Animal Mandates has pointed that out as an unintended consequence of the Act. It rewards the shelters that do not find homes for their animals and penalizes those that do.
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