Update - California Healthy Pets Act

What we have done so far ( position April 6, 2007)

1. advised the USA membership through the Regional Directors to voice their protests by writing/calling/faxing their Elected representative(s). Letter formats have been provided ( see letter below and also visit the Post below for more details). Obviously the membership has rallied to the cause as we have had over 600 hits since sending details to the 50 or so USA clubs in California. Our Regional Directors are to be thanked for taking this task on. Unless there is Constituent protest; this Bill may pass in some form....and guess what..the Bill has been amended again. For the new version please click here. (to return to the Blog; please use your browsers back arrow key).

For more details of these changes please visit the AKC site or the Save Our Dogs site.

2.considering sending a senior member of the USA's Executive Board to make a presentation to the Committee provided we are given enough floor time.

3. submitted a strong letter of protest signed by the USA President to the Committee considering the Bill. For full text of the letter please click here.(to return to the Blog; please use your browsers back arrow key). The AKC has also sent a protest and the letter from their President & CEO is here and the very compelling one from their Chairman to Governor Schwarzenegger is here. The latter discusses what is of paramount importance to the State - loss of revenues.

We urge all to visit the AKC and Save Our Dogs sites. Both of them are taking concerted action to defeat the bill and may have more up to date information available. The USA's role is to provide its members with all and any assistance they may need to achieve this end as well. We will work with all organisations having the same goals.


For Suggested USA Letter - please click on Read More

Date

# Any Street
Any City, CA Zip Code


The Honorable full name
State Capitol
Room number
Sacramento, CA Zip Code

Dear Assembly Member or Senator (use last name)

AB 1634 - California Healthy Pets Act

(Suggested Opening Paragraph – modify as appropriate)

I am a Constituent and a responsible dog owner (add breeder, trainer etc as appropriate) belonging to The United Schutzhund Clubs of America ("USA") and am writing to express my opposition to California Assembly Bill AB 1634 (“Bill”). Whilst the intent of the Bill “to reduce the number of cats and dogs in shelters” is indeed laudable; it will nonetheless be ineffective. It will only serve to penalize responsible dog owners and breeders. Furthermore, it will encourage puppy buyers to import from out of state or even from overseas from "puppy factories" and other commercial breeders. Also, it will encourage those who are irresponsible to not license their pets and remain "under the radar" so to speak. If enacted this Bill would impose undue financial hardships to “in state” German Shepherd Dog (and other Breed) owners, breeders and trainers.

(Suggested Paragraphs – choose/modify as appropriate)

As you are aware, German Shepherd Dogs have a time-honored tradition of protecting the innocent and vulnerable members of society. They protect and assist police officers and military personnel in fighting crime and terrorism. They serve worldwide as police dogs, military dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, guide dogs for the blind, therapy dogs, and assistance dogs. They also serve as loyal and faithful family pets.

Mandatory spay and neuter provisions, as envisaged by the Bill, would prevent the selection of breeding-quality working German Shepherds, and could effectively wipe out in one generation, what breeders have strived to safeguard and develop for a century. It is simply not practical for any breeder to identify dogs which have the inherent breeding potential at a young age as four months resulting in them being required to pay intact permit fees. The choice of spaying or neutering should be left to the dog owners as it otherwise infringes on their civil liberties as Citizens of a Free Country.

Although the Bill “exempts” certain dogs if they are registered with certain “approved” Registries and/or serve law enforcement or other such agencies; it still does not exempt these dogs from payment of “intact permit fees” on which there is no "cap" or "limit" in the amounts which can be levied by the local jurisdictions at will and without any justification. Dog owners will be required to subsidize any inefficiency in local animal control and management which will be continually passed across to them in the form of such fees.

This Bill also does not recognize that certain “Registries” such as the USA have strict controls and regulations in place to preclude indiscriminate and improper breeding. Dogs registered with the USA are bred under strict guidelines requiring a variety of certifications as to temperament, obedience, and other canine aspects of good behavior. There is also control imposed on line and in breeding. It is also a pre-requisite for all breeding females and stud dogs to have good health certifications in respect of Hip Dysplasia etc. There are also limits placed on the number of litters that can be registered by the Breeder and the litter (puppies) and the Dam are visited by a Regional Breed Warden to ensure that they are sound, in good health and their environment conforms to USA standards. In addition the puppies are all tattooed to provide effective identification.

The Bill if passed in any form will also impact the livelihood of a number of people in the California who manage either full time or part time to make ends meet by operating small and home based businesses dealing with training, breeding and production of canine related items for sale. In addition, the reduction of purebred dogs in the State will reduce the number of dog shows which are held annually. This and the reduction in sales of dog and cat related food and other items will cause an equivalent reduction in the amount of sales tax collected and also result in some level of unemployment or underemployment. As such, the Bill will cause a tremendous negative impact to the economy of the State.

(Suggested ending Paragraph – modify as appropriate)

The provisions of the Bill are clearly impractical, do not achieve the purpose for it was intended and makes the cure worse than the disease. If the Bill is passed all it will do is to encourage the importation of pups and dogs from out of state/overseas. This does not necessarily mean that these “imported” dogs will not end up in shelters. We strongly oppose this transgression of our rights as law abiding citizens of the State of California and urge you to take all steps as necessary to have the Bill withdrawn.

Yours Sincerely