Bill Hemby’s Testimony on SB 250
| SB 250 Makes it a crime to own a natural dog or cat There are a number of instances that triggers penalties under SB 250---which require mandatory surgical sterilization. There are a number of penalties that can be imposed: citation, civil and criminal. An Infraction is a crime. PetPAC research along with the Governor’s Dept of Finance research, under a similar mandatory surgical sterilization bill showed that when faced with these penalties, fees, and surgical costs, many pet owners will refuse to pay, remand their animals to shelters, or disavow ownership, which results in more impounds, more unpaid costs and more killing of animals. In the City of Los Angeles after MSN their kill rate went up 31% last year. These unpaid fees will fall back upon state mandated costs under the Hayden Bill. The Mandated costs still owed local shelters is at $21 million. It is a travesty that under the Hayden Law, the state must reimbuse shelters only for animals they kill. So, the incentive is for shelters to needlessly kill more animals. In the very real event of a disaster, such as the Santa Barbara fires or floods, or earthquakes, dogs and cats escape or are released from their homes, they are lost and roaming. Under SB 250, if picked up they are surgically sterilized. Since they are lost, most will end up being killed. The state pays the mandated costs. At a time when the state is looking at a deficit in the billions. When thousands are out of work. When home foreclosures are at an all time high, it seems ill-advised to incur more mandated costs. Worse than that, SB 250 could potentially turn thousands of law abiding citizens into criminals---because they triggered SB 250 penalties. And lastly, why would you want to turn California into a nightmare state for dog and cat hobbiests? Following my testimony, Senator Runner asked the Department of Finance consultant, if there were mandated costs associated with SB 250. She answered “YES”, and pretty much agreed with what I had testified to. Runner then asked me if I knew of any instance where mandatory spay and neuter had worked? I answered that the research PetPAC did, and that done by the Governor’s Department of Finance, showed “NO”. then went on say; “In every instance where mandatory sterilization has been instituted, shelter costs increase, licensing plummets, and pet owners become increasing suspicious of local and state government. In City of Los Angeles licensing is down to less than 20%. The LA City Contoller stated they do not have the funds to enforce their mandatory spay/neuter ordinance. Los Angeles County fees went up 269% King County, WA fees up 57% Capitola, CA income from dog licensing went down. Aurora, CO, shelter intakes up dramatically, kill rates up, licensing down. Camden Cnty , New Jersey’s kill rate went up, breeder permits failed. And the city of Fort Worth had to repeal MSN, when incidents of rabies increased.” . |
