Who Controls the Bar
| Assembly Bill 241, authored by Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, and sponsored by HSUS, sets a cap on dog breeders of fifty intact dogs. It sounds logical. Many breeders can’t even fathom why anyone would want to own fifty dogs. Many claim that would be a so-called puppy mill. So why would PetPAC oppose such a bill? The answer is: What does the number 50, have to do with a good or bad kennel? Nothing. Whether you have 10 or 200, it is not the number, it is the condition in which the animals are kept that is pertinent. Conditions can be terrible or excellent. Proponents testify having that many dogs is, in itself, the reason they are mistreated, sick, diseased, kept in horrible wire cages, and die when they are transported. But proponents couldn’t identify one kennel in California that kept dogs in that condition. They did talk about horrible conditions in out of state “mills”. They couldn’t explain why having a state law limiting dog breeders to fifty was needed. That’s why I testified AB 241 was an exercise in smoke and mirrors. There are a plethora of anti-cruelty laws on the books. Local cities already have limit laws. How can you enforce this law? How can you tell a spayed bitch from one in her natural state without an expensive ultra sound? Most puppy farms are controlled by the Federal Department of Agriculture Animal Welfare Act. Only five puppy farms were identified in California. Not one of them failed a Dept. of Agriculture Inspection. According to proponents, closing just one puppy farm back East cost around $400,000. Is the state willing to undertake this task, and cover the $2 million it would cost to police these farms? If AB 241 passes, the State of California will be mandated to pay this price. The real reason to oppose AB 241 is fifty dogs and cats is not, and never has been the issue. The issue is allowing HSUS and animal rights wackos' to set the bar and write the laws regarding pets and breeding, until eventually it becomes illegal to have pets. In fact, at a HSUS seminar last February in Rochester, the HSUS Executive Director for the state of New York stated their plan is to introduce legislation that will set a 50 dog cap, then revisit it every year and lower it. He likened it to making a crime a misdemeanor first, then continually increasing the penalty until it is a felony. When pressed by Senator Rod Wright, D- L.A., the HSUS spokesperson couldn't justify the number 50. He stammered and said that it’s what other states have set. What baloney. AB 241 failed to get enough votes to pass the committee, but the next day our Senate Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, waived the rules of the Senate, called a special “Vote Only” meeting of the committee and got the bill passed by a Democratic only 4 – 0 vote. Senator Wright abstained, and Republican members boycotted the meeting. AB 242 is next scheduled for Senate Appropriations. |
