April 25, 2022
https://www.akc.org/legislative-alerts/california-ab-1881-sponsor-agrees-remove-animal-rights-bill-rights/
The author of California AB 1881 (the “Dog and Cat Bill of Rights”) has agreed
to remove the word “rights”, along with other substantive amendments from the
text of Assembly Bill 1881 and will be verbally stating this in the public
hearing tomorrow.
This amendment comes after significant concerns were expressed by the American
Kennel Club, the California Veterinary Medical Association, the Animal Health
Institute, animal control officers, AKC clubs, NAIA, and many individuals
across California.
This is in addition to amendments posted last week which remove the words
“guardian” and “companion animal”, among other changes requested by the AKC and
others.
AKC thanks all those who joined with us in explaining the many concerns,
dangers, and consequences of implying that animals have inherent “rights”.
Your calls and letters made a difference!
The new amended draft will be made available after the Assembly Business and
Professions Committee hearing. Once the new text is made official, AKC will
send out additional information. There is no further need to contact the
committee to ask that the amendments be accepted or provide comment to the
committee.
While AKC did not get every amendment we requested, we are grateful to the
author for agreeing to this compromise and addressing our primary and most
significant concerns.
Summary of Compromise Amendments:
The official draft will not be made available until later this week, after the
Assembly Business and Professions Committee hearing on the bill. However, the
committee chairman has indicated it will provide a compromise to allow the
author to keep his stated goal of advancing education about responsible pet
care at shelters while removing terms that elevate the legal status of animals.
AKC has been informed it will also replace the declarations that “Dogs and cats
have the right” with “Dogs and cats deserve”, thereby removing any implication
to inherent legal rights and instead providing a list of guidelines or goals
for owners obtaining a dog or cat from a shelter or rescue.
Although the compromise will also allow the author to call the bill the “dog
and cat bill of rights”, as amended, AKC has also been informed the amendments
will rename the new division of law simply “Ownership of Dogs and Cats”.
These changes are in addition to the amendments added last week that remove the
words “companion animal” and “guardian” and state that the purpose of the bill
as “solely to inform potential owners of the standards for basic physical care
and emotional well-being of dogs and cats.”
These amendments are essential in clarifying that there will be no enforcement
for failure to live up to the recommendations in the bill, and also replace
animal rights language with the term pet “ownership” to ensure that the legal
status of animals will not change.
Official Assembly Bill Analysis:
The author, Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, has continuously stated that the
purpose of Assembly Bill 1881 is simply to help owners understand when they are
getting a pet from a shelter or rescue that there are many responsibilities
that come with acquiring a dog or cat.
However, as the official committee analysis acknowledges, using the word
“rights” creates more issues:
Some of the specified rights are at least partially enforceable through
existing law. For example, the Penal Code does specifically criminalize forms
of “exploitation, cruelty, neglect, and abuse”—the first of the enumerated
rights. However, there is no similar citation available for the second right,
which is “to a life of comfort, free of fear and anxiety.” (There is also no
legally enforceable right under the law for human beings to experience such a
life.) While various rights enumerated in the bill could be loosely
corresponded to provisions of law, it is undeniable that the majority of the
language in the list of rights is purely aspirational.
…The author has made it clear that the goal is not to imply that there would be
any direct repercussion to pet owners who fail to live up to the language in
the bill. Instead, the goal is to “educate” potential dog and cat adopters
about the standard they should hold themselves to when it comes to the quality
of home they intend to provide. However, this could understandably still be
very confusing for some members of the public. Language like the statement that
“dogs and cats have the right to nutritious food” might appear to be tied to an
actual enforceable law, and could potentially lead to fewer adoptions by
potential owners concerned that they could be liable for failing to meet a
vague requirement.
AKC greatly appreciates Chairman Berman and the Assembly Business and
Professions Committee staff for recognizing the concerns with use of the term
“right” in legislation, even where a measure does not provide for enforcement.
AKC Government Relations will continue to provide updates as they are
available. For more information, contact AKC GR at doglaw@xxxxxxx.
Stormy Hope
NAIATrust, Trustee
NAIATrust-CA on Facebook!
GSDCA Legislative Liaison to AKC
California Responsible Pet Owners
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