How will AB 1634 work?
AB 1634 will require all dogs and cats in California to be spayed or neutered at 4 months
of age unless they are registered purebreds and have special, government-issued permits.
How do I get a government
permit to stop my dogs and cats from being sterilized?
You can only get a permit if you can prove you're a licensed
breeder, or if your pet is a valid purebred and has been in at least one legitimate show or is in training.
A 4-month-old
dog is too young to either compete OR be in training, yet those are the requirements under AB 1634 to get a permit?
Yes.
What
about service dogs for the blind and disabled?
AB 1634 will require all potential service dogs to be sterilized at
four months unless they have begun training — an impossible criteria to meet since training doesn't start until
dogs reach maturity.
How about police and rescue dogs?
There is no such thing as a 4-month-old puppy who is
either "being trained or... is actively used by law enforcement," yet that is what AB 1634 requires to avoid forced
sterilization of dogs used for police work, search and rescue, and narcotic and bomb detection. Nearly all police dogs are
unaltered males. Neutering their offspring will wipe out decades of established bloodlines in just one generation.
Will
the passage of AB 1634 at least provide more low-cost spaying and neutering programs?
AB 1634 does not provide ANY
state funds for programs that are proven to reduce shelter in-takes and euthanasia rates: pet-owner education and low-cost
spaying and neutering programs.
Does any other state require all dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered?
No.
The backers of AB 1634 continue to claim Rhode Island has such a law, but it does not apply to dogs.
Our 12-year-old
family dog is a mutt, not a purebred. Will she have to be spayed?
Yes. All mixed breed dogs and cats over four months
old must be spayed or neutered – or you'll be fined $500. If AB 1634 works as intended, all mixed breed dogs and
domestic cats will be systematically eliminated from California.
I want to get my pet neutered, I just feel that four
months is too soon. Can't I wait until he's older?
No. Under AB 1634, surgical sterilization will not be a
decision made between you and your vet – it will be a government requirement.
I've been breeding dogs for
22 years. How will Assembly Bill 1634 affect me?
If you currently breed, show or sell dogs or cats in California, you
will have to qualify and pay for a government permit or be forced to sterilize all your cats and/or dogs. Permits fees will
be "determined by a local jurisdiction" and commonly start at $100-150 per animal, paid each year, but can go much
higher.
AB 1634 will not work and will only cause more problems for the State of California.
Similar forced spay/neuter
laws have failed and subsequently been repealed following sharp increases in shelter intakes, higher euthanasia rates, skyrocketing
animal control costs, and unprecedented reductions in voluntary pet licensing and rabies vaccines.
Unintended consequences
following enactment of forced spay/neuter laws:
| SAN MATEO COUNTY,
CA |
| Dog euthanasia | Up 200% |
| Cat euthanasia | Up 86% |
| Dog
licensing | Down 35% |
LOS ANGELES, CA |
| Animal Control
expenses | Up 269% |
| Dog licensing | Down |
PINELLAS COUNTY,
FL |
| Animal Control expenses | Up 75% |
| Shelter intakes | Up |
| Euthanasia
rates | Up |
FORT WORTH, TX: Repealed |
| Licensing | Down |
| Rabies
vaccinations | Down |
| Rabies cases in City | Up |
AURORA,
CO |
| Animal Control expenses | Up 75% |
| Shelter intakes | Up |
| Euthanasia
rates | Up |
| Licensing | Down |
CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ |
| Euthanasia
rates | Up |
| Breeder permitting | Failed |
KING COUNTY,
WA |
| Animal control expenses | Up 75% |
| Licensing | Down |
CAPITOLA, CA |
| Licensing | Down |
| Funding | Down |
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD: Repealed |
| Licensing | Down 50% |
AB
1634 undermines proven successful programs.
The number of dogs impounded in California has been falling dramatically
for decades – down 86% over the past 30 years — because local agencies utilize programs that work: Pet owner education,
enforcement of “at large” and leash laws, and subsidized free or low-cost spay/neuter services. NONE of these
programs are state funded under AB 1634.
Animal population issues must be resolved at a local level, not state level.
AB 1634 will blanket all 58 counties
in California with a mandate to enact expensive enforcement and government permit bureaucracies – regardless of local
needs, necessity or desire.
Arbitrary and expensive government permits will eliminate guide dogs, police K9s, and working
dogs.
Exemptions under AB 1634 for mixed breed cats and dogs are illogical and impossible to meet. As a result, police
dogs, search and rescue dogs, service dogs for the blind and disabled, and working stock dogs serving California’s $6
billion livestock industry will be wiped out in one generation.
AB 1634 is poorly designed, cannot be successfully
enforced and will be extremely costly to administer.
AB 1634 will harm animals, punish millions of responsible pet
owners, cost taxpayers billions, and increase the both the abandoned pet population and euthanasia rates across the state.
PetPAC: Protecting the Rights of Pets and Owners
PetPAC is an organization formed to protect the rights of
pets and owners through public awareness education, grassroots organizing, and advocacy at the local, state and national level.
PetPAC
Represents
- Thousands of individual pet owners
- Hundreds of dog and cat clubs, organizations and associations
- Assistance dogs for the blind, deaf and disabled
- Law enforcement K-9, Narcotic, Bomb, and Search and Rescue
dogs
- Livestock working dogs
- Breeders of purebred dogs and pedigreed cats
- Veterinarians
PetPAC
Chairman
William "Bill" Hemby has served as the Legislative Advocate for the California Organization of Police
and Sheriffs (COPS) for 23 years. Bill has been involved in thousands of legislative bills in Sacramento, California and Washington
D.C. His legislative experience ranges from national security issues to leading efforts on the rights of pets and their owners.
Since 9/11, Bill has provided homeland security and anti-terrorism training to peace officers in California and around the
nation.
After serving in the military overseas, Bill served 15 years as a police officer with the San Francisco Police
Department and retired as a Sergeant. Bill Hemby is the recipient of the San Francisco Police Department’s Gold Medal
of Valor, the highest award an officer can receive. In 1981, then Governor Jerry Brown appointed Bill to serve as a Commissioner
on the Youthful Offender Parole Board, conducting sentencing and parole hearings for young offenders.
For the past 30
years, Bill has shown dogs. Bill and his wife Cyndi have seven Borzoi dogs, two rescue Afghans, one cat and two horses. Their
love of animals is a deeply held passion.
Pet PAC
P.O. Box 1019
Sacramento, CA 95812
You Can make a difference !!! Sign the petition, donate money, but
first and foremost tell everyone you know !!!! You can also get more information at the official A.K.C. site at www.akc.org Protect our pets and our rights !!!! Take up the fight and tell our represntatives to vote NO on AB1634
