PRO: Stop the animal carnage
By JANE CARTMILL
California kills more than 400,000 dogs and cats, spending $250 million yearly due to overpopulation of companion animals. Yet the first meaningful attempt to stop the carnage and the costs with statewide legislation is being met with virulent opposition.
The needless deaths and atrocious waste of taxpayer dollars to manage the status quo appear unimportant to opponents of AB l634. Their agenda is to maintain unlicensed and unregulated breeding of dogs and cats as a “hobby,” escaping taxes on the income generated. Their agenda is to treat regulation of breeding as an intrusion into personal property rights ” thereby relegating companion animals to the status of “property” and vilifying legislators who deem animal lives worthy of more than the incinerator. Their agenda is to ensure no one is bothered ” from the veterinarian who may need to complete a form to the backyard breeder who would need to obtain a license.
Apparently opponents of the bill think these human inconveniences are more disturbing than the killing, because where mandatory spay/neuter has been enacted, the number coming into shelters dropped dramatically.
AB 1634 exempts service animals, sick or aged animals and every legitimate breeding purpose. It does not seek to abolish pet ownership or to create a world of purebreds. It does give animal control authorities a mechanism to cite irresponsible backyard breeders and provides incentive that will reduce accidental breeding.
AB 1634 also addresses public safety. California has the highest number of dog attacks in the nation, and altered animals are far less likely to bite. The health benefits of spaying and neutering are also well established in veterinary literature.
Anyone who thinks this bill is over-reaching should visit their local animal control facility. Watch frightened, lost, abandoned dogs and cats take their last steps to the euthanasia room. Observe the faces of shelter personnel as they hold the animal down and insert the needle. Watch the puppy or kitten slump, draw its last breath, and die for the misfortune of having been born. Watch the lifeless body be discarded onto the pile of others ready for the rendering plant. Watch that process four hundred thousand times a year and then tell me that mandatory spay/neuter is unnecessary.
” Jane Cartmill is the vice president of San Diego Animal Advocates and past president, board of directors, of the Rancho Coastal Humane Society.

CON: A wolf in sheep’s clothing
By JEAN SPENGEL, D.V.M.
The Assembly recently passed a bill (AB 1634, the California Healthy Pets Act) that would require all dogs and cats be spayed/neutered at the age of 4 months or their owners would face a fine of up to $500. The bill is intended to reduce unwanted animals and the senseless euthanasia of shelter animals. While at first glance this bill may seem to be a great idea, its reality is different. It does not address the true sources of pet overpopulation, violates the rights of responsible pet owners, was sponsored by the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) without support of its membership, and is unenforceable.
Consider the following points:
“¢ The bill mandates spay/neuter at an age which many veterinarians feel is too young and has health implications. Medical decisions should be made by the owner and their veterinarian without government interference.
“¢ This bill does nothing to educate irresponsible owners who will never comply nor owners that obtain pets and later dump them in shelters (one of the leading causes of shelter intake). Plus, this bill does nothing to address feral cats which make up 70 percent of the animals euthanized in some shelters.
“¢ Out-of-state and Mexican puppy mills will prosper, causing a decline in health and a rise in behavior problems resulting in even more shelter relinquishments.
“¢ Similar legislation has been adopted in several areas of the country and failed to reduce the number of euthanized animals, while causing a dramatic decrease in licensing and the fees it generates for the shelters.
“¢ Euthanasias have decreased significantly over the last 20 years without legislation. In San Diego, over the last five years, we have reduced the number of dogs euthanized by 50 percent and cats by almost 30 percent without government interference. This has been accomplished by public education and the cooperation of Animal Control with rescue and spay/neuter organizations.
“¢ Consider the public health significance if scofflaws decide to no longer vaccinate their intact pets for rabies as they fear detection. Will the puppies/kittens that they used to take to shelters now be dumped onto the streets to suffer or eventually breed, adding to the current problem?
We are all veterinarians who have dedicated our lives to the prevention of animal suffering every day of our lives and agree that the euthanasia has to stop. This bill will do nothing to stop it and will likely be counterproductive, causing more animal suffering and increasing taxpayer costs. Only education and community cooperation will solve this problem.
We ask you to call, e-mail or write your senator and ask them to vote against this poorly designed bill.
” Jean Spengel, D.V.M., who practices in La Jolla, is joined in this op-ed by Brenda Phillips, D.V.M., ACVIM (Oncology); Patricia J. Ungar, D.V.M., CVA; Sharon Vanderlip, D.V.M.; and Jack Vanderlip, D.V.M.