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Lorem ipsum his ut explicari vituperata adversarium, semper commune mediocrem eos ex. Vim solet consul vocibus ei. Facer fuisset officiis vel ex, at vix partem tractatos, habeo maluisset id mei. Ad duo sale munere facete. Ex vidit brute feugiat qui, mei ullum zzril aliquam id, est ei tollit munere persecuti.
State Bill Status: Passed Senate
Pet Protection Orders
Bill Number: CA S.B. 353
HSUS Position: Support
Legislature Status: In Session
Includes animals in domestic violence orders.
State Bill Status: Passed Assembly (On to Senate)
California Healthy Pets Act
Bill Number: CA A.B. 1634
HSUS Position: Support
Legislature Status: In Session
Requires cats and dogs over the age of four months to be spayed or neutered, unless the person caring for them possesses an intact permit, as specified.
» Action Alert! California: Support the California Healthy Pets Act
Federal Bill Status: Pending
Animal Welfare Accountability Improvement Act
Bill Number: H.R. 2193
HSUS Position: Support
Legislature Status: In Session
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to increase the penalties for violations of such Act, to calculate fines based on the number of animals directly affected per violation, to prohibit the use of animals for marketing medical devices, and to reinstate the requirement for the USDA to submit an annual report to Congress.
» Action Alert! Support the Animal Welfare Accountability Improvement Act
Federal Bill Status: Pending
Buck's Bill (The Pet Safety and Protection Act)
Bill Number: S. 714 & H.R. 1280
HSUS Position: Support
Legislature Status: In Session
To amend the Animal Welfare Act to ensure that all dogs and cats used by research facilities are obtained legally.
» Action Alert! Support Buck's Bill/The Pet Safety and Protection Act
Federal Bill Status: Pending
Charitable Remainder Pet Trust Act
Bill Number: H.R. 2491
HSUS Position: Support
Legislature Status: In Session
To revise the Internal Revenue Code so that a companion animal may be the beneficiary of a charitable remainder annuity trust, which allows a trust fund to be established for the continued care of a loved one. When the animal beneficiary of this trust dies, the remainder interest goes to the charity of choice as indicated in the trust, such as a humane society or animal shelter.
» Action Alert! Support the Charitable Remainder Pet Trust Act
Federal Bill Status: Pending
Pet and Human Food Safety Act
Bill Number: S. 1274 & H.R. 2108
HSUS Position: Support
Legislature Status: In Session
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to the safety of food for humans and pets. The bill will:
* Help regulate the industry by establishing mandatory processing and ingredient standards (both domestically and internationally) and requiring more inspections of pet food processing plants.
* Create an early warning system to help identify possible contaminants earlier and penalize companies that don't report possible contamination.
* Ensure that any future recalls are conducted quickly by giving the Food and Drug Administration the power to order mandatory recalls of tainted food.
» Action Alert! Our Pets Deserve Safe Food
Federal Bill Status: Pending
Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act
Bill Number: H.R. 891
HSUS Position: Support
Legislature Status: In Session
It is illegal under the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Act to import, export, sell or advertise any domestic dog fur in the United States. Fur from other animals must be identified with a label, but only if the value of the fur exceeds $150. The Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act aims to strengthen the current law and protect consumers and animals by outlawing the import of fur from raccoon dogs and requiring all garments trimmed with fur to be labeled, regardless of value.
» Action Alert! We Need The Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007
Sacramento County ups pet license charge
In bid to promote neutering, fee for intact dogs and cats rises fivefold.
By Sacramento Bee writer: Ed Fletcher - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, April 18, 2007
For decades, television host Bob Barker has been preaching it. Now both the city and county of Sacramento are saying it: "Have your pet spayed or neutered."
On Tuesday, Sacramento County approved a fivefold increase in the cost of licensing an intact dog or cat, joining the city of Sacramento in a national movement to decrease the number of unwanted pets.
The city approved its fee hike in March.
Breeders, who oppose the higher fees and mandatory spay or neutering measures, say the problem is with irresponsible breeders, "puppy mills" and bad owners -- not with purebred enthusiasts and breeders.
"All these people are bad dog trainers because they smacked the good dog for what the bad dog did," said dog fancier Sheila Grant after the 4-1 county vote.
Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan cast the lone vote against the ordinance.
County officials stressed that the new fees are just one of several measures aimed at decreasing animal populations.
Under the ordinance, the county's yearly registration fee for a dog or cat that has not been spayed or neutered would increase from $30 to $150. The fee for registering a fixed dog or cat would go from $10 to $15.
Show dogs and "working ranch dogs" might qualify for a lower unaltered license fee of $45 under the county program.
The ordinance creates a $500 administrative fine for breeding an unlicensed pet and allows medical exemptions from veterinarians.
The major difference between the city and county ordinances is that the new city license for an unaltered cat would increase from $30 to $75 a year, rather than the higher county fee.
The two local measures are among at least a half dozen nationally that have been under discussion in recent months, according to press reports.
Meanwhile, California legislation requiring that pets be spayed or neutered by 4 months of age has generated a massive response from both sides of the debate.
More than 200 groups -- from Abyssinian Breeders International to the Western States Police Canine Association -- registered their opposition by the time the bill faced its first hearing on April 10. Another 200 groups were lined up in support of Assembly Bill 1634, which is expected to face a committee vote next week.
Proponents of the local measures and the state legislation say forcing (or encouraging with big fees) people to spay or neuter their pets will result in fewer pets being euthanized and lower costs to local governments.
"Spaying and neutering is the key to all this legislation," said Rick Johnson, executive director of the Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "That is the basis for all of this legislation -- to stop the overwhelming number of animals coming into animal shelters."
County shelter volunteer Barbara Doty brought a prop to help make her point. Other supporters unfurled a huge string of pet bios taped together as she talked.
"These are the animals that entered the shelter in March," Doty said. Of the 920 pictures and bios displayed, 463 were on red paper, indicating the animals put to death at the shelter.
In 2006, the county impounded more than 15,000, of which 8,700 were euthanized. While those numbers are down slightly, county officials and animal welfare activists say the county needs to do more.
"This ordinance is part of a larger framework, providing a carrot and a stick," said Supervisor Roger Dickinson.
The county is building a new shelter, which could result in more adoptable animals, introducing a mobile spay/neuter clinic and doing more outreach, officials said.
But critics say the county's efforts are misguided and point out that of the 8,700 animals destroyed, 6,500 were cats.
The county ordinance does not directly address the population of stray unfixed cats being fed by the public.
County Animal Control Director Pat Claerbout, smiling Tuesday after two years of work on the ordinance, said the county will soon turn its attention to feral cats. (article compliments: Sacramento Bee 2007)