[ SHOWGSD-L ] Subject: PLEASE OPPOSE CALIFORNIA AB 610
- From: Stormy Hope <Stormy435@xxxxxxx>
- To: gsd showlist <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2011 14:52:37 -0700
http://capwiz.com/naiatrust/issues/alert/?alertid=53266501&queueid=7293148451
PLEASE OPPOSE AB 610
Take Action!
This bill is based on misinformation and exaggerated claims about dog
and cat populations in California, and creates a poorly defined
program without proper oversight.
California AB 610 is now in the Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee. It has been amended several times. This bill would repeal
Section 5156.5 of the Vehicle Code, relating to specialized vehicle
license plates. By declaring urgency, the bill would take effect
immediately. There are serious problems with this bill.
Under existing law, the Department of Motor Vehicles issues
environmental and other specialized license plates. The issuance of
some of those license plates is subject to additional fees that go to
underwrite or support charities or similar ventures (Arts Council,
Coastal Commission, Yosemite, Olympics, etc.). Existing law prohibits
the department from establishing a specialized license plate program
for a state agency until the department has received not less than
7,500 applications for plates. As introduced, AB 610 would reduce the
required number of received applications to 2,500 for this plate and
cause only, yet no specific state agency, board or commission is
stipulated. AB 610 would treat this one cause differently from the
existing, established eleven causes, thereby establishing uniquely
different requirements and law.
On August 22, amendments to the bill specified that the funds derived
from the sale of the specialized license plates, after administrative
costs, would be allocated to the Veterinary Medical Board for a pilot
program that would support city and county animal shelters.
The money thus derived would then be distributed for projects and
programs that support city and county animal shelters, including, but
not limited to, spaying and neutering programs and adoption programs.
Included in the Amendment of August 22, 2011, is the following:
"The legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(c) In six years one unspayed female dog and her offspring can
reproduce 67,000 dogs. On average it costs approximately one hundred
dollars ($100) to capture, house, feed, and eventually kill a homeless
animal--a cost that ultimately comes out of the taxpayers' pockets.
Low-cost spaying and neutering services are far below that amount.
Thus, the cost of having a pregnant female dog can be much higher than
the cost of spaying.
(d) Each day, seven dogs and cats are born for each person born in the
United States. Of those, only one in five puppies and kittens stay in
their original homes for their natural lifetime. The remaining four
are abandoned to the streets or end up at a shelter. As long as these
birth rates exist, there will never be enough homes for all of the
animals."
There are serious objections to AB 610.
While it is commendable to create free or low-cost voluntary spay/
neuter programs for those who need the financial assistance, this bill
does not define the citizens it will serve or the necessary criteria.
In fact, the bill states that it, "includes, but is not limited to"
spaying and neutering as defined in the pilot program. Thus, the
parameters of the program are not adequately defined.
Also added to the License Plate Spay/Neuter fund from the preceding
year is a vague, undefined and open-ended "adoption" program. The
indeterminate administrative and promotion costs associated with the
"adoption" program could severely reduce those funds that were
initially designated for the License Plate Spay/Neuter fund.
Under a boilerplate declaration of findings, is included a great deal
of non-scientific, inaccurate, inflammatory languague and reasoning
used to attempt to justify this bill. The authors contend that there
are approximately 4 million people born in the US annually. They
further contend that 7 dogs and cats are born for each person born,
which would mean that 28 million to 35 million dogs and cats are born
each year, which is simply not true.
If 80 percent of those presumed animals are "abandoned or end up at a
shelter," there must be 23 million to 28 million dogs and cats killed
in shelters every year. Even the most overstated (and false) Internet
number is 9 million. This is another statement that has no basis in
fact and is demonstrably false. Unsubstantiated "junk science" should
not be part of legislation.
CA AB 610 is an end run around a failing program that if passed, would
become effective immediately, thus allowing the reserved license
plates to be immediately distributed. More importantly, it would
single out this cause from the eleven established license plates,
creating contradictory criteria for future legislation.
Read the text of AB 610 here.
Please contact your California legislator and let him or her know your
concerns about this bill.
Please contact the Veterinary Medical Board to let them know your
concerns.
Susan Geranen, Executive Officer
Veterinary Medical Board
2005 Evergreen St., Suite 2250
Sacramento, CA 95815-3831
Phone: 916-263-2610
Fax: 916-263-2621
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