LA Daily News regarding AB1634 [California Spay/Neuter Bill]

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[Posted by Brennan Browne on behalf of Daniel Guss]Regarding AB 1634:Dear Activists,Would you please share your thoughts with the Daily News [regarding the shelving of AB 1634], which has been very generous in giving me a platform to write about animal welfare, at: dnforum. If and when you do this, please cc the following people: Assemblyman Lloyd Levine at assemblymember.levine, his Communications Director, alex.traverso, and Judie Mancuso at "Judie Mancuso" <judie, If we are to get this desperately needed law, it's critical that these leaders know just how many of us are backing their

efforts.Thank you,Daniel Gusswww.standfoundation.org ARTICLE: http://www.dailynews.com/theiropinion/ci_6353424 Defeat of spay-neuter measure a travesty BY DANIEL GUSS, Guest Columnist Article Last Updated: 07/11/2007 08:48:58 PM PDT ON Wednesday, state Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, pulled the plug on AB 1634, a desperately needed law that would have required mandatory spaying or neutering of dogs and cats throughout the state. The primary culprits for its failure are plain and simple: greed and ignorance. At a meeting last month of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services, dozens of breeders showed up to protest the city's role to help pass the statewide law, and to discourage a citywide ordinance of equal or greater substance. The breeders defiantly stated that they have a right to run for-profit breeding businesses, yet they didn't have any suggestions on what to do when their dogs end up in a shelter. Just a few steps from the new East Valley's

meeting room, hundreds upon hundreds of animals sat in kennels awaiting two fates: adoption or death. "Let's see whether any of you are going to leave here tonight with just one of the animals facing death," exclaimed one rescuer. Not one breeder saved a single animal that night; they came to protect their profit, not puppies. An even larger culprit are those known as backyard breeders, who fly below the radar, creating mixed and undocumented purebred dogs, selling them at discounted prices on Web sites. In short: profit exceeds wisdom, even when the consequence means real-world suffering. The adage is, if you saw how sausage is made, you'd never eat it again. If people took a walk through any government animal shelter, few would ever buy a dog or cat from a breeder again. As an animal rescuer, I have encountered countless pet owners who insist that their pet is so wonderful, so beautiful, that they simply must create its

offspring. When they declare that they'll find homes for each one, they fail to recognize that even if they were to successfully do this (which is no small feat), each animal they create displaces a shelter animal whose life hangs in the balance, and which could have been placed in that home. Some of the blame for Wednesday's failure also goes to local governments, like the city and county of Los Angeles, which have done nothing to make it more difficult to open retail pet-sales stores in the region. Moreover, local shelters still occasionally allow unaltered animals out of the shelter, even when there is no veterinary-approved reason for doing so. Last year, shelter operations cost Californians hundreds of millions of dollars. And it is widely believed that every dollar invested in spay/neuter efforts would ultimately save 18 animals. So a mandatory spay/neuter bill, while snuffing out the greed-driven breeding business, would ultimately save the rest of us

a mountain of money, and the needless suffering of animals on the demise. Levine, who pulled the plug on the bill when he realized that he was close but still didn't have enough votes, will work on a revised version that is expected to surface in January, if not sooner. Since our shelters are already overflowing, these laws can't come too soon. Greed will be conquered if Levine ensures that the new bill will be accompanied by free spay, neuter and microchipping on demand. It will pay off in spades. Daniel Guss is a Sherman Oaks-based writer who founded Stop Torture, Abuse & Neglect of Dogs, www.STANDFoundation.org Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Games.

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