A MESSAGE FOR LEGISLATORS

           There are no permits to break the law

 
It has come to our attention that proponents of SB250 are telling legislators that when people who participate in dog events do so, they operate under permits which allow them to avoid animal control laws while participating in those events.

  We are sure our legislators are aware that no one can issue a permit to allow laws to be broken.  If an animal control law says (and almost all of them do) that tags shall be worn at all times, then that is the law.  And that is one of the many dangers for responsible dog owners and how they will easily be caught up in the punishments of SB250.

  When dog events are held, no special permits are obtained.  Rather, locations are rented, just as for any other type of event.

  The proponents are also saying that these laws will hardly ever be enforced  (so one wonders why they are fighting so hard for them) and that no community would enforce a law against responsible people.

  So that you can speak to this issue first hand we would suggest you check these links.

  In Los Angeles, rather than going into the neighborhoods where roaming dogs are a problem, the Los Angeles Police Department and Animal Control is performing raids in the upper class neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Rustic Canyon.

Read this newspaper account.

 
In Encinitas, Police raided a park and rounded up the lawbreakers who ran 10 minutes late leaving the park, which had no one else in it anyway.

Watch the television coverage.

 
Were these people breaking the law?  Yes.  And under SB250 any intact dogs would be sterilized.

Loose dog and Infraction = Sterilization and Never Owning an Intact Dog Again.  

 
It's human nature; the police and animal control are going to continue to target those people where it is the safest to issue tickets; they are not going to choose to go into neighborhoods where they are uncomfortable.  So as with all these things, it is the responsible people that will pay while the others are ignored.

Be sure you make YOUR legislator aware that (a) there are no permits given to break the law and (b) police and animal control officers to enforce all these laws.  Send them the links so they can see for themselves.

Posted via email from cdocdogtalk

A MESSAGE FOR LEGISLATORS

           There are no permits to break the law

 
It has come to our attention that proponents of SB250 are telling legislators that when people who participate in dog events do so, they operate under permits which allow them to avoid animal control laws while participating in those events.

  We are sure our legislators are aware that no one can issue a permit to allow laws to be broken.  If an animal control law says (and almost all of them do) that tags shall be worn at all times, then that is the law.  And that is one of the many dangers for responsible dog owners and how they will easily be caught up in the punishments of SB250.

  When dog events are held, no special permits are obtained.  Rather, locations are rented, just as for any other type of event.

  The proponents are also saying that these laws will hardly ever be enforced  (so one wonders why they are fighting so hard for them) and that no community would enforce a law against responsible people.

  So that you can speak to this issue first hand we would suggest you check these links.

  In Los Angeles, rather than going into the neighborhoods where roaming dogs are a problem, the Los Angeles Police Department and Animal Control is performing raids in the upper class neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Rustic Canyon.

Read this newspaper account.

 
In Encinitas, Police raided a park and rounded up the lawbreakers who ran 10 minutes late leaving the park, which had no one else in it anyway.

Watch the television coverage.

 
Were these people breaking the law?  Yes.  And under SB250 any intact dogs would be sterilized.

Loose dog and Infraction = Sterilization and Never Owning an Intact Dog Again. 

 
It's human nature; the police and animal control are going to continue to target those people where it is the safest to issue tickets; they are not going to choose to go into neighborhoods where they are uncomfortable.  So as with all these things, it is the responsible people that will pay while the others are ignored.

Be sure you make YOUR legislator aware that (a) there are no permits given to break the law and (b) police and animal control officers to enforce all these laws.  Send them the links so they can see for themselves.

Posted via email from Cathie's posterous

STICK TO THE FACTS

We noticed a bulletin yesterday that said SB250 was a new dog tax. It is not a new tax; it is not a revenue generator. And it is a bill from Senator Dean Florez, Senate Majority Leader, not Senator Torres.

To date the community opposing this bill has been fact based, proving with publicly available and vetted data that Mandatory Spay and Neuter of Owned Dogs kills more pets and costs more money. It is important to stick to the facts

This is a Mandatory Spay and Neuter bill. There are no fees or taxes you can pay to get out of this.

If you dog is loose twice over the lifetime of a dog, you must sterilize your intact dogs and lose your right to ever own an intact dog again.

If you have any animal control violation once, you must sterilize your intact dogs and lose your right to ever own an intact dog again.

A tax would be benign compared to this. Please stay on message as you make your calls.

Posted via email from cdocdogtalk

MSN in Los Angeles

I see that the SCIL people are claiming that MSN was not enforced in Los Angeles until October of 2008. I can understand how they could think that; none of them live in Los Angeles or have dogs so they had no reason to try and license dogs.

 The City could not issue citations until October 1st. But beginning on February 27th, as soon as the Mayor signed the Ordinance, it was enforced at the six Animal Shelters. You were told that you had to have your animal sterilized. If you were familiar with the law, you could get them to grudgingly agree that if you had an AKC show dog, you could get a $100 license. But each person wanted different "proof" of this. For some an AKC Certificate was necessary, for others a listing in a dog show catalog, others wanted to see that your dog was really there.

 Unless you showed your copy of the ordinance, they never mentioned that you could keep a non-AKC dog intact by buying a "Breeder's Permit". CDOC accompanied several people to license their dogs after they were told they could not get intact dog licenses. So this law has been enforced since February. We have video and recordings of shelter personnel and their supervisors fumbling their way through explanations; not their fault; it is amazingly complex.

 We also have a sworn statement from Ed Boks talking about the fact that the law was enforced, as far as licensing, beginning February 27th.

Posted via email from cdocdogtalk

Yesterday the City of Los Angeles had on the agenda to consider whether to support SB250.  Since the Mayor's Office has been sending people, at City expense, to Sacramento for each hearing, it seems that he has unilaterally decided to support this.  He is evidently not concerned about the increased killing in Los Angeles since the end of February.  Kill rates for dogs are up 24%. 

His advisors, including SB250 sponsor, who was at the City Council meeting today, would say that the reason the numbers are so bad is that the economy and home foreclosures are so bad.  But, as the chart below shows, the numbers in Los Angeles far exceed those elsewhere in the State.  And this Chart specifically shows counties with high foreclosure rates and where the economy is far worse than Los Angeles. 

Maybe the City Council just wants company.  Unfortunately it would come at the expense of owned dogs and cats.  

. . And Still No Amendments

August 3rd and those amendments that Florez promised the Senate just have not appeared. 

It would have been hard to predict at the beginning of the legislative year and anyone could make Assembly Member Levine look responsive but Florez has managed to do this.  For those of you who have forgotten the Committee hearing, it is here. 

One of the problems that the Senator has is that his bill makes the 500,000 people who went to one or more AKC events last year irresponsible owners with this bill.  Some because they do not have their tags on in conformation events and some because they have to be off lead to compete in performance events.  And with Los Angeles Animal Control conducting sting operations so charge people training their dogs at the parks; can you doubt that other cities will follow their lead.  One dog show sweep alone could net almost $500,000 in fines and court costs.

STILL NO AMENDMENTS

Here we are, a week after Senator Florez announced he had made several amendments to the bill to satisfy prior commitments. In fact, he was prepared to hand them to the B&P Committee. But since they would not consider them, he put them away. No one has seen them; many have called his office and requested them. But there is no response.

And SB250 remains as bad a before; only we are smarter now. Remember when Levine and Boks were telling us MSN was just a "tool" to get to the bad people? We heard that again in B&P Committee last week. But now that Animal Services is using animal control and LAPD manpower to conduct raids in the nice part of town, we know that it is not tool. It is a hammer to get the people who are not part of the problem, who almost all have altered, licensed dogs. But some don't keep their tags on their dogs and some actually take them off leash to throw a frisbee or a ball. Thank goodness Senator Florez is on the job to allow every animal control group in the state to take a page out of the Los Angeles book.

And the interesting thing is that the California Animal Control Directors Association is not supporting this bill. They know that impounds will increase; they know that euthanasia will increase. And they know the irresponsible people will turn in one dog and go get another.

Meanwhile we wait for the amendments and continue to get our letters in. Remember organization letters in by tomorrow afternoon. If you are worried they will not get there, send a copy of your organization letter to CDOC at 818-332-9690. We even bought a new fax machine today just to keep up with the volume of letters. Letters to the Committee members can go all week but should be there by Monday.

CDOC will be meeting with Committee Member on Monday and Tuesday.