Hi all, Something else of interest. Permission was granted to cross-post. Brenda Shepard Sho-Gun German Shepherd's And check out this web site, too: www.DogGoneCalifornia.org Click on the AB 1634 button at the top. Ron Cole Some other info that might be useful: From -- DR. JOHN BURCHARD, PhD geneticist in an e-mail communication: "IMHO AB 1634, the "California Healthy Pets Act," should properly be called the "California Pet Extinction Act" because that is its intention and will probably be its effect. The rarer breeds (including mine) will disappear from California (which currently has the country's most important breeding population). The very common breeds may survive, but with a very greatly reduced effective (genetic) population size. Reduction in size of the gene pool is regularly associated with an increase in homozygosity (that is more or less inevitable because there are fewer potential breeding partners), and increased homozygosity in a population is in turn associated with higher frequencies of genetic defects and diseases." By taxing each and every intact dog, breeders will be forced to give up their extra stock, stock that enlarged the gene pool, and many will be doing more inbreeding of litter mates and close relatives, resulting in the increase in homozygosity described by Burchard above. I believe his breed is the Saluki. So, you can see the stakes are high and the damage that can be done to the quality and price of future dogs we want to buy for conformation, obedience, agility, etc. will be great. What is not spelled out in the bill is what will happen to breeders if it passes. AND THIS IS NOT CONTAINED IN THE WRITING OF THE BILL. If every single local ordinance in which there has been a "Breeders Licensing" bill passed is any indication, breeders will not be able to get a license or an exemption without signing a waiver of their Fourth Amendment rights to a warrant before inspections of their premises, and these inspections will come with little or no advance notice; infractions will result in loss of license, mandatory n/s of all breeding stock with little or no due process or appeal. Appeals will be before the local animal control people, rather than a jury of one's peers. That's pretty grim when the accuser becomes the decider. Democrats, who are in the majority of our state legislature, are more easily swayed by animal rights legislation, and that legislation is almost always put forth by a fellow Democrat. Yet, Democrats are generally opposed to warrantless wire tapping, loss of due process, etc. Perhaps we could make a parallel between the consequences and loss of Fourth Amendment Rights with the Patriot Act. Also, Democrats are more likely to favor stem cell research. Yet, this bill will cut into breeding of purebred dogs, and cause damage to the gene pool. The current gene pool is being used by cancer researchers and by geneticists who are looking for cures for some 300 genetic diseases shared by man and dog. Mapping the canine genome and finding the causative gene has been highly successful in finding cures and treatments for several of these common ailments, with the research just in its infancy. It would be a shame for this bill to put up a roadblock to future medical breakthroughs. And, this research can be done without sacrificing or working on a single human embryo. We just have to support the breeders whose records go back generations and whose dogs can make all of this possible. ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2007. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - www.showgsd.org ============================================================================