I tried...

Below is a comment I attempted to post in response to an online article regarding SB 250 for the L.A. Times. For some reason it wasn't accepted... and I did reword and try again. Oh well.

SB 250 is a clear taking of private property, supposedly (according to Sen. Florez yesterday in his Senate Floor testimony) in the interest of saving the state money.

Is it ever legal in California or the United States to take someone's private property with the stated intent of saving the government money at some nebulous future time?

The essence of SB 250 is this: get one valid animal code infraction - just ONE - and for the rest of your life you will never be able to own OR CARE FOR a cat or dog, puppy or kitten, that has not been castrated or undergone an ovariohysterectomy.

This bill screams OVERKILL.

Since when is it in the best interests of the PUBLIC, which our legislators are elected to serve, to mandate the destruction of property they already own ... with the stated purpose of saving the state money at some future hypothetical date?

Over 80% of dogs and over 90% of all owned cats in California are ALREADY spayed or neutered. SB 250 makes it ILLEGAL to own a dog in California that is not sterilized. What if you're visiting the state? Nope, no provisions for that.

SB 250 makes it ILLEGAL to own *or care for* an outdoor cat in California if it's not ALREADY sterilized. What if you're caring for a feral cat colony and haven't been able to trap all of them in a TRN (trap-neuter-release) program? What if someone dumps a couple of pregnant kitties - and the property owner complains to animal control, who discovers YOU feeding them?

Nope, no provisions for that either.

Alley Cat Allies is right - SB 250 is one nasty piece of work if you care about feral cats.

If you're a dog or cat breeder, anyone who has read the dozens of RECENT veterinary research articles showing spay/neuter carries great risk, or a regular dog owner who loves their animal as it naturally is ... SB 250 should be a greater wake up call than last year's spay-every-cat-and-dog-in-

California bill, AB 1634.

Do not let radical animal rights groups like HSUS and PeTA legislate away your pet's health. Do not let people who spew hate towards families who have one litter of puppies or kittens destroy your legal rights. Get involved - get your neighbors involved - get your school, church and synagogue friends involved. Stop the insanity.

http://saveourdogs.net/
http://petpac.net/
http://www.naiaonline.org/
http://www.alleycat.org

http://capwiz.com/alleycat/issues/alert/?alertid=13457581&PROCESS=Take+Action&external_id=10519.0