RSS
Home
Legislative alert for California animal lovers
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Bella was rescued from a backyard breeder whose lack of understanding of purebreed genetics led to her being born without an eye Photo: Gulf Coast Dachshund Rescue
This Tuesday, June 23rd the California Senate Public Safety Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on a measure that will ban the sale of animals on roadsides and in parking lots. As the ASPCA notes, "Many of these animals are bred and raised in poor conditions and sick at the time of sale—and since dogs and cats sold in this manner usually are not spayed or neutered, they contribute to the pet overpopulation that leads to tens of thousands of homeless animals being euthanized in the state each year."
I would add that it's not just these animals' offspring in danger of being killed in shelters, particularly if Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to cut state-mandated shelter hold times is successful, but the animals purchased themselves. An animal casually picked up for a couple of bucks can just as easily be discarded.
As the mom to a Maltese who was previously used as a backyard breeding dog, I can attest that the care these dogs receive from owners solely motivated by profit is nonexistent. When I found her at the South L.A. shelter a few years ago, she was terrified, her hair overgrown and matted, and every tooth in her mouth was rotted and painful. Of course, as a breeder she wasn't spayed, leading to a dangerous uterine infection called pyometra. Staff at the South L.A. shelter told me her owners had brought her in, saying, "We're moving. Can you put her to sleep?"
To their credit, even though she was a senior dog with serious, potentially expensive medical problems, the South L.A. shelter staff did not immediately euthanize her, and I was lucky enough to find her there later that day. Now, although she no longer has any teeth, she's happy, healthy and spayed. But if the people who had so ruthlessly used her to make puppies to sell had had their way she would have been long dead.
The ASPCA points out, "It is critical that you contact the committee’s members before Tuesday to let them know that AB 1122 matters to Californians like you and you want them to support it."
Please click here to visit the ASPCA's Advocacy Center now to email the entire committee and ask them to do all they can to get AB 1122 passed, so people who use animals as nothing more than a quick way to make a buck are put out of business.
Related Articles:
Comments
