ANIMAL RIGHTS TERRORISTS

AKC Withdraws Opposition to this Oppressive, Unreasonable Legislation (AB1634)! Leaving All Pet Owners, Everywhere, With No Support.

AKC WITHDRAWS OPPOSITION TO AB 1634

Dateline August 14, 2008 - this affects YOU no matter where you live! Here is a link to this week's amended version of AB 1634: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_1601-1650/ab_1634_bill_20080812_amended_sen_v88.html

The American Sporting Dog Alliance (http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org) is urges all Californians to act quickly to inform your senator that you remain opposed to this new legislation, and that the latest amendments have not changed your views. This bill has been assigned a floor manager, which usually means it will be quickly moved for a vote.

The urgency is underscored by consistent reports that the American Kennel Club (AKC) has withdrawn its opposition to AB 1634, (see below) following the latest amendments by Rep. Lloyd Levine, the bill's author. Whether these reports are true or false may not be as important as the fact that the senators are being told they are true and believe that to be the case. We have had correspondence from two different senators stating this belief.

If the senators believe that AKC does not oppose AB 1634, it is far more likely that the ones on the fence will vote in favor of it.

Please contact AKC President Dennis Sprung (dbs@akc.org), and government relations specialists Noreen Baxter (neb@akc.org)and and Walter Bebout (wrb@akc.org) to urge AKC to renew its opposition to this legislation, and ask them to personally contact each California senator to let them know about it.

Here are the highlights of the new version of AB 1634:

The amended legislation creates civil penalties, such as its last version did. But they are different. For the first offense, the civil penalty is $50; for the second offense, the civil penalty is $100 and microchipping is mandatory; and for the third offense, spay/neuter is mandatory.

Any animal control officer, humane officer, police officer, peace officer, or any agency authorized to enforce the Penal Code may write citations with the above civil penalties stated.

The civil penalty would apply to anyone who owns a dog or cat that is not licensed, or anyone who owns an intact animal that is found to be roaming, or anyone who owns a dog or cat that is taken to an animal shelter or pound.

One significant new exemption is provided: "Any dog owner who is not a resident of California shall be exempted from this section if the owner provides proof, as determined by the local jurisdiction or its authorized local animal control agency, that the dog is temporarily in California for training, showing, or any other lawful reason."

John Yates, asda@csonline.net , http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org

Editor's Note: Would "showing" be enough to induce AKC to withdraw opposition to AB 1634?

Most dog and cat clubs have signed on to opposing this legislation in its current form.  Many national clubs OPPOSE such legislation in ANY FORM because it does nothing to solve problems and in fact, condemns even more pets to being dumped at shelters by fearful or low-income families.  That is almost certain death for pets that would have had a lifelong home.

More on this situation:

Updates:

    -  The official list of opposition in the 8/13/08 Bill Analysis now has about 860 organizations, plus numerous veterinarians!  We are also aware of several clubs that are not on the list, but have sent opposition letters after AKC's position change. (Editor's note: AKC has indeed WITHDRAWN opposition to the bill)

    -  A number of AKC judges have sent very strong letters to AKC Board asking them to rescind their ill-advised decision, and promising to cease all future support of AKC and join another registry if AKC continues to abandon fanciers.

and...

from Patti Burton:

will be a critical test of how much damage AKC's betrayal has done to us.  So, Please FAX as many Senators as you can First Thing in the morning (or at least email.)  Try to CALL as many Senators as you can, at least your own Senator.  If Levine doesn't have enough votes tomorrow, he'll most likely come up with yet another amendment.  Let's do all we can to stop him!

Can't remember if we've already mention this - the United Kennel Club (UKC) remains firmly opposed to AB1634.  We had not realized this before, but apparently the UKC was established in 1898, and is the largest all-breed performance dog registry in the world, registering dogs from all 50 states and 25 foreign countries.  Granted they are not nearly as big as AKC, but they're no slouch either, and they see the big picture...

and...

If you are a CDOC member or if you donate to CDOC, please contact them ASAP and find out what kind of a deal they're waiting for.  Whatever it is, please urge them not to compromise on AB 1634.  I If it's so important, KILL AB1634 and introduce a new bill and let it go through the normal hearing process.  Why try to rush such an intrusive bill through in a matter of a few days?