CFA Update - September 5
Huntington Beach motion to draft an ordinance
Please forward.

The Huntington Beach,CA City Council voted last night to approve DRAFTING a
mandatory spay/neuter and mandatory microchip ordinance. See the article
below in today's Orange County Register. The vote was 4 to 3.

Council Member Bohr (who testified at the AB 1634 July 11th hearing in
Sacramento) will work to get this ordinance passed as a start in
Orange County and
then other counties in the State. It is based on the Los Angeles County law
that passed in 2006 and is just now being enforced after a grace period.
There is one big change - CATS have been added to the Huntington
Beach proposal.


The proposed ordinance would mandate sterilization and microchipping of all
dogs and cats 6 months or older. Exemption is allowed for service and law
enforcement dogs and "competition" dogs/cats. Owners would be able to keep a
dog/cat intact if they can prove one of the following:
1. Compete is at least one show per year.
2. Earned a title from a sanctioning registry.
3. Be a member of a breed club, approved by animal services, with an
enforced code of ethics for breeding.

Many cats, valuable for breeding programs, can not be shown for various
reasons, Cats show for one show season and do not go to shows
every year. CFA
does not have breed clubs for every breed. Obviously cat breeders could not
comply and this ordinance. This would be devastating as a model for other
California jurisdictions.

The Council Members are part time and don't even have direct emails/fax
numbers. Fanciers should set up meetings as constituents. We
need to get to
the media with our side of the story. If there are any veterinarians who can
help us this would be important. Please contact me if you live in Huntington
Beach and can do anything to help defeat this. If you live near enough to
attend a hearing when one is scheduled let us know.


Joan Miller
CFA Legislative Coordinator
JMillerArt@...
_www.cfa.org_ (http://www.cfa.org/)
_www.cfa.org/ezine_ (http://www.cfa.org/ezine)
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Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Huntington sets first with pets
The city becomes California's first to have a rule requiring spaying or
neutering and microchipping.
By ANNIE BURRIS
THE ORANGE COUTY REGISTER
HUNTINGTON BEACH - The City Council voted Tuesday to make Huntington Beach
the first city in the state to adopt a program forcing pet owners to spay or
neuter and to have microchips inserted into their cats and dogs.
Opponents of the law said the council was barking up the wrong tree. The
plan was a needless example of "nanny government," and enforcement would be
difficult if not impossible, they said.
"I believe very strong education and not legislation is the answer to the
problem," said pet owner Diane Amendola. "As a senior citizen, I
cannot afford
them. This is an invasion of my rights."
Police Chief Kenneth Small presented a report to the council about the costs
and requirements associated with the program.
"Huntington Beach is known for its love of dogs with the success for Dog
Beach and Dog Park, and I'd like to show leadership and address them
head-on,"
said Councilman Keith Bohr.
"Animals don't have pockets. They can't carry condoms," said Lynda
Montgomery from Animal Match Rescue Team. "You would have to be in a
coma not to know
how bad the overpopulation problem is."
"It is time for Huntington Beach to catch the wave and get on the bandwagon
with this," said Karen Chepeka, president of Save Our Strays.
Council members Joe Carchio, Don Hansen and Jill Hardy voted against the
ordinance. Cathy Green, Debbie Cook, Gil Coerper and Bohr voted in favor.
The ordinance will be phased in over a year to allow public education
without enforcement, and the council will review the program once
it's in effect
for a year.
Animals exempt from the program would be law-enforcement dogs, service dogs
and animals bred for competition. Veterinarians can also make exemptions if
they decide the sterilization surgery would be unsafe because of the animal's
age or health condition.
Pet owners whose animals are exempt would be required to pay an increased
fee for animal licensing.
Civil citations would be issued to owners who do not comply. However, Bohr
said no citations would be issued for the first year of the program, which
would be more focused on education than enforcement.
Once the law is enforced, owners would have a 30-day grace period to show
proof of sterilization and the inserted microchip. A fine of $150 could be
levied; the penalty would be increased by $50 every 30 days up to a
maximum of
$500.
Contact the writer: _aburris@..._ (mailto:aburris@...)
or 714-445-6696 >>







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