Should Fixing Most Pets Be Mandatory?
The California state Senate takes up a hotly debated bill today that would make it the first state to require pets be spayed or neutered.
The bill passed the State Assembly with no votes to spare and the State Senate vote could happen today. If the bill passes, Gov. Schwarzenegger has not indicated if he will sign or veto the measure. The governor has two male dogs: a Labrador named Spunky and a cockapoo named Sarge. A spokesman for the governor refuses to say if they're neutered.
Many critics say the law is unfair because it punishes the responsible pet owner. On the other hand, proponents say that even if pet owners may not like it, mandatory spaying and neutering is for the greater good.
"We still have to euthanize too many animals," animal health technician Amy Strickland told The Early Show veterinary correspondent Dr. Debbye Turner. "There's still too many animals and not enough homes. And a lot of people don't realize that."
Every year in California at least 800,000 dogs and cats are abandoned. Almost half of them must be put to death because of overcrowded shelters. But that's not the case in Santa Cruz County.
"As a shelter worker, this is just fantastic," Animal services coordinator for Santa Cruz Co. Tricia Geisreiter said. "We love to see empty kennels."
"We used to get like 50 kittens in one day, and we could maybe keep five, so we had to make a decision about who was going to live, who was going to die," she said. "That doesn't happen anymore!"
Twelve years ago, Santa Cruz imposed a mandatory spay-neuter law and Strickland says the change is striking. Before their law took effect, there were warnings that it would do away with the hobby breeder and that mutts would disappear. That didn't happen, and probably won't happen again because some owners just refused to comply and accidents happen.
"The euthanasia rate in Santa Cruz County has gone down 64 percent — huge; in 12 years," said Jennifer Moulton of the Santa Cruz SPCA.
Not only that, unaltered pets are at greater risk to serious diseases like cancer.
"I think veterinarians deal every day with the problem of unplanned pregnancies or poorly planned pregnancies or medical health issues related to animals not being spayed or neutered," veterinarian Dr. Betsy Bowerman said.
So now, there is a move to make the spaying and neutering of most pets mandatory for all of California, modeled after the Santa Cruz ordinance. Assembly Bill 1634 the California healthy pets act requires that dog and cat owner fix their pets in the first six months or risk a $500 fine. Exemptions would be granted to guide dogs, service animals, police dogs, and registered breeders. A recent amendment would allow owners of mixed breed animals to have one litter per year.
Former "Price is Right" host Bob Barker lobbied heavily for the bill and came to Sacramento on Monday as a final vote nears. That vote could go either way.
Kathryn Blink has raised Dalmatians for more than 30 years. She says the proposed law may be targeting overcrowded shelters but the impact will be felt by all dog owners and breeders.
"It's not going after the right people. Most of hobby breeders, they care more about their dogs than some care about their children, to be honest," she said.
Breeders also say it takes at least a year to evaluate a show dog. Six months, they say, is too little time. And many pet owner don't want a law to tell them how to care for their pets.
The debate has turned passionate and so intense that the California Veterinary Medical association, an early backer of the bill, is now neutral. It's not the problem that people disagree on. It's the solution.
"I realize people say it's for the greater good, but I still have an issue with telling me what I can do," Blink said. "It would be just like saying my daughter can't take ballet until she's 14 because it's not good for her to be en pointe. It's her decision. And this should be my decision."
For more information
Read the bill
Read the concerns from the California Veterinary Medical Association
Watch the debate:
Search for "AB1634" on YouTube