[ SHOWGSD-L ] Riverside CA VERY IMPORTANT!!! TOMORROW!!!
- From: stormy435 <stormy435@xxxxxxx>
- To: "showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:13:46 -0800
FORWARD!!!!
CFA Legislative ALERT
Forwarding encouraged
List and Riverside fanciers - sorry this is so long and so sudden.
We just received word about TOMORROW'S meeting of the Riverside County CA Board
of Supervisors - thanks to Concerned Dog Owners of California. An ordinance
will be introduced, based on previous proposals but revised. In checking the
County Board of Supervisors' Agenda it seems this ordinance will be introduced
tomorrow with a hearing scheduled for January 13th Please double with the
clerk, Nancy Romero, PHONE 951-955-1060.
3.16 COMMUNITY HEALTH AGENCY/ANIMAL SERVICES: INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE
NO. 630.12, an Ordinance of the County of Riverside Amending Ordinance No. 630
relating the Dogs and Cats (to include provisions of mandatory micro chipping
and mandatory spaying/neutering). (Hrg. set 1/13/09 @ 9:30 a.m. – Clerk to
advertise)
Many meetings were held last year and numerous letters sent by
fanciers opposing the planned mandatory spay/neuter ordinance and separate
mandatory microchip ordinance. They have gone ahead and revised these anyway
as one ordinance.
WHAT to DO: Attend tomorrow's meeting and report
Email the Board members to express opposition to these
mandates that the community strongly opposed at numerous
meetings.
WHAT to SAY: Microchipping technology is not perfect - scanners malfunction,
chips migrate. Using this form of ID should be the pet owner's decision. Pet
owner personal information should not be held by animal control - those who
choose microchipping should enroll with a national recovery for high quality
service dedicated to reuniting animals. Microchipping used as a tool for
animal control enforcement is a misuse of this technology. Microchipping is
expensive for and will deter people trapping and neutering feral cats or taking
stray/unowned into their homes. The low-tech collar and tag is fine for many
pet owners. Public education is needed, not coercion.
MSN - this proposal has been revised to now punish those "individuals who
violate existing state or local law relating to animals". Sterilization is
severe punishment for every possible law no matter how minor. This is surgery
and veterinary procedures should be the decision of pet owners, not that of
government. Any animal impounded must be sterilized no matter what the reason
- what happens in case of fire or other disasters when animals are taken into
the shelter? Hearings will be expensive.
Joan Miller
CFA Legislative Coordinator
***************************************
In a message dated 12/15/2008 2:01:31 PM Pacific Standard Time, LFINCO@xxxxxxx
writes:
Riverside County Spay/Neuter Ordinance -- Permission to crosspost
Please review this information if you live in or nearby Riverside County and
consider attending the meeting and/or sending emails to the Board of
Supervisors.
Supervisor Bob Buster: district1@xxxxxxxxx
Supervisor John Tavaglione: district2@xxxxxxxxx
Supervisor Jeff Stone: district3@xxxxxxxxx
Supervisor Roy Wilson: district4@xxxxxxxxx
Supervisor Marion Ashley: district5@xxxxxxxxx
The Department of Animal Services will introduce the spay/neuter ordinance to
the Board of Supervisors on December 16, 2008.
Board of Supervisors, County of Riverside
4080 Lemon Street Riverside Calif.
1st Floor, County Administrative Center
Tuesday, the 16th of December, 2008. The meeting begins at 9 am.
Agenda item 3.16
The following is the text form of the proposal and some of the discussion items
from organizations that are supporting this ordinance. The idea is that this
ordinance would be like the "seat belt laws" as secondary enforcement. We need
to remember that driving without a seat belt is against the law in the state of
California; however, owning an intact pet is not. Therefore, we cannot tolerate
or support ordinances that make it a crime, even a secondary crime, to own an
intact animal.
Laura Finco
CDOC
************
It is estimated that there are two million dogs and cats in Riverside County.
Consequently, the Department of Animal Services has been overwhelmed with dogs
and cats on a daily basis. Many of these pets are either impounded by our
Animal Control Officers or presented to the shelters by their owners and
citizen Samaritans.
The Department estimates that more than 33,000 animals will be housed in County
shelters this coming year with an average daily shelter count in excess of 1200
animals. Despite great strides to increase the adoption and redemption rates,
there remain very few post-impound strategies capable of dealing with this
number of apparently unwanted pets. In February 2006, the Department of Animal
Services (“Department”) adopted the policy that healthy, adoptable animals will
no longer be euthanized. As the County’s pet population continues to grow,
there is simply not enough shelter space to house this surplus. The
Department’s solution is to decrease the population of unwanted pets through a
multi-pronged approach. The revisions included in Ordinance No. 630.12 include
two steps to help achieve this goal:
1. Inclusion of a mandatory identification microchipping provision of all dogs
and cats in the unincorporated areas; and
2. Inclusion of a mandatory spaying/neutering provision for all dogs and cats
over four months of age, subject to certain exceptions, in the unincorporated
areas.
Mandatory Microchipping
Microchips are positive identification aids that act as essential tools in
reuniting lost pets with their families. Unlike dog tags or tattoos, which can
become lost, damaged, faded and/or altered, microchips provide a permanent
identification system with unique numbers that cannot be changed.
Microchipping of animals has largely become a customary practice; millions of
dogs, cats, horses, livestock, birds, wildlife, and endangered species have
been “chipped.” The process is simple and non-surgical. The chip, which is
approximately the size of a grain of rice, is injected underneath the skin with
a needle. Anesthesia is not required, and even the smallest animals such as
fish, puppies, and kittens are safely microchipped.
Of the 18,569 stray dogs that were impounded during the last calender year,
only 2,731 (14%) were reclaimed by their owners. Of the 13,307 stray cats that
were impounded in the same timeframe, only 120 (0.9%) were reclaimed by their
owners. The most common reason dogs and cats are not reclaimed is due to lack
of identification and the inability to contact the owner. Microchips will
improve the Department’s returned-to-owner rate and lessen euthanasia in County
shelters.
Microchipping of pets will also help the Department positively discern and
differentiate dogs of the same breed to efficiently enforce state and local law
with no risk that the dog at issue has been substituted, including rabies and
other vaccinations, and licensing requirements. Microchip identification will
also greatly aid the Department’s ability to investigate bite cases and animal
cruelty cases. The Department has been able to reunite more than 400
distraught owners with their pets through use of microchip identification.
Furthermore, it will be an invaluable tool in the Department’s goal of reducing
the number of impounds into our shelters and increase the percentage of
redeemed pets.
Mandatory Spay/Neuter
Veterinary science has demonstrated the safety and positive health benefits of
spaying and neutering, which is especially true if the pet is sterilized before
maturity. Pursuant to state law, the Department has sterilized every adopted
pet for the last eight years, including puppies and kittens as young as two
months, and has had positive results with very few complications relating to
this practice.
Of the 19,008 stray and owner-surrendered dogs that were impounded during the
last calendar year, 59% were two years or less of age. 1,671 were puppies,
younger than two months, and not old enough for adoption. Similarly, of the
14,448 cats impounded in the same timeframe, 78.5 % were younger than two years
and 3,219 or 22.3% were less than two months old. Given the age of the
animals, it is safe to attribute these significant numbers as the results of
the two latest breeding cycles. Accordingly, it is clear that the animals in
Riverside County need some type of further management/limitation relating to
their unrestrained reproduction. This degree of fecundity can only be lowered
by enforcement of a mandatory spay/neuter provision.
The spay/neuter provisions shall be secondary enforcement only; accordingly,
focus of the spay/neuter requirement is directed at individuals who are likely
to contribute to the overpopulation problem. These are individuals who violate
existing state or local law relating to animals, including animals at large,
bite cases, animal cruelty cases, and noncompliance with citations. The
requirement to spay/neuter dogs and cats whose owners and/or custodians fail to
comply with the law will greatly help to implement the Department’s plan to
solve the burdensome unwanted animal surplus in our County.
In addition to the above, the Department also implements a low-cost spay/neuter
voucher program called ASAP (Animal Sterilization Assistance Program), formally
known as the POPCO program, which serves as a financial incentive toward
voluntary spay/neuter. In further efforts, the Department also includes
deployment of the Animal Neuter Spay Wellness and Education Resource vehicle,
the “ANSWER” on wheels, for community outreach measures on education of the
process and long term benefits of pet sterilization.
IMPLEMENTATION/ENFORCEMENT:
The ordinance will be enforced when Animal Control Officers check the status of
pets they contact during the normal course of their work. A stray dog or cat
impounded by the Department will be microchipped and altered prior to being
reclaimed by its owner or custodian. An appeal process is prescribed for those
owners who may dispute the circumstances or application of this ordinance.
FISCAL IMPACT/FINANCING:
The fiscal impacts of this ordinance will be neutral to positive depending upon
the level of initial voluntary compliance. Overall, as the number of intact
animals decreases, so too will the absolute number of pets produced from
unplanned reproduction decrease, which would over time reduce the funding
required to impound, house and care for such animals. The segment of the
impounded pet population most capable of marked improvement is that population
which is to be “returned to owner.” These pets generally are held for fewer
days, require less care by Department personal, and generate revenue for the
County. Microchip identification will permit these efficiencies.
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