Can someone drive a spike in this pet-killer bill?
By Gina Spadafori
July 15, 2009
Good news: SB 250, the pricey pet-killer bill, did not make it out of the Appropriations Committee in the California state Assembly this morning.
Bad news: It ain’t dead yet. It’s in the suspension file, which means it could come baaaaackkkkkk.
Best news: Party lines finally cracked, with a pair of Democrats catching a clue about how bad for pets forced spay-neuter really is. From Laura’s report on SaveOurDogs.net:
Two of the Democrats on the committee expressed serious reservations about the bill.
Assemblymember Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles) showed a very short stack of support letters and and very tall stack of opposition letters. Nice job getting those letters sent, it makes a difference!
Assemblymember Charles Calderon (D-Montebello) said: “I hope that legislators will STOP bringing these bills. They don’t need the state to get involved or to intervene. This bill may be about euthanasia … but … this bill just doesn’t die!!”
No, but pets are going to keep dying everywhere mandatory spay-neuter gets passed. It’s time to move away from laws that push people to dump even more pets. Representing L.A., Assemblyman Davis should be well aware what a disaster mandatory spay-neuter is there.
It is very crucial that people sent PHYSICAL LETTERS to officials at times like these. Those ‘online petitions’ that are so popular nowadays do pretty much nothing, as the ‘signatures’ they get have no real weight.
Having stacks of —physical proof— that illustrates the strength of the opposition makes a strong impact, especially since handmade letters are not common anymore.
Comment by Pai — July 15, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
Go Snail Mail!!
Good job, everyone. Although credit must be given to a lot of those online petitions for getting the word around. They may not hold water in the eyes of legislators or the rest of the powers that be, but they CAN show people who may not have an opinion or who can be persuaded that the other side may have a point.
I know when I receive one I always take a thorough look at it - I may act on it, I may simply reply to sender with an explanation as to how they’ve got it wrong (oh, the PeTA petitions I get forwarded ALL THE TIME just b/c my friends know I work with dogs) and how the issue has been twisted.
As the blog post a few days ago regarding the Twitter adoption, social networking has really opened the doors for those in the know to open the lines of inquiry and communication. I shudder to think how many things would have been passed or gone relatively unnoticed if it weren’t for the masses on the interwebs…
Comment by Kim — July 15, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
A support Sb250 website has info that Florez was too busy with the State Budget to be at the Committee hearing today so they will restart the fight in August! They also say that committee staff report “overwhelming” support for the Bill! We need to keep up the fight and continue to call and write to the Assemblymembers.
Comment by Dorina — July 15, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
OOPS!! When I looked at my last post it almost sounded like I was supporting SB250. I’m NOT!!!
This is a very important issue and we really need to spend the time now to fight this!
Comment by Dorina — July 15, 2009 @ 3:22 pm
I know, geez, it’s the Rasputin of bad pet legislation!
I think that if you could just kill these things definitively, keeping people involved in the fight would be a simpler deal. “Yay it’s DEAD” sounds better than “Hey good news, it’s sorta dead, but crap it could come back and thanks for all the effort but don’t relax yet”
Ah well, we keep on keeping on! MSN COSTS, FAILS, KILLS. Defeating these things is a moral obligation, with MSN, real improvement is impossible and people a pets suffer.
Comment by JenniferJ — July 15, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
We need to thank Davis and Calderon. And politely ask the other Dems to reconsider.
Everyone should continue to contact their OWN assembly persons as well.
The official analysis is biased and innacurrate. It use New Hampshire to support MSN.
NH has a statewide, low cost, high volume VOLUNTARY S/N program. That is why it has been a success. We need to make sure that leeetle difference is known.
And the report actually states that if the Hayden Act, the one that helps keep shelter pets alive rather than killed after only a few days, is repealed, then HEY SB 250 won’t cost CA anything because the state only has to assist with impounded pets who are kept in accordance with Hayden.
So SB250 will be fiscally responsible only if shelters can kill FASTER.
Sick much?
Comment by JenniferJ — July 15, 2009 @ 3:37 pm
thanks for this good news - I’m from out of state but if California went for this bad pet legislation so goes the nation - cautiously hopeful here.
Comment by mary francis — July 15, 2009 @ 3:38 pm
Assemblymemeber Mike Davis 916-319-2048
Assemblymember Charles Calderon 916-319-2058
Two of the “good guys” . you can thank them for their continued opposition at the above numbers.
Comment by bestuvall — July 16, 2009 @ 12:26 pm
Thanks for posting the two Assembly Members’ phone numbers, bestuvall - they certainly deserve our thanks.
Comment by Sacramento Mom — July 16, 2009 @ 2:22 pm
RE: Snail mail - I’ve heard the order of importance to legislators is fax, phone, physical mail, because physical mail can take soooo long to get to a person in this day and age of anthrax scares, etc. YMMV, but I always fax (and then mail my letter if I feel it will get there in time). Just a suggestion, probably worth what you paid for it.
Comment by Kelley — July 17, 2009 @ 12:50 am