California bill charges $250 for breeder permit
Sell a dog, pay $250. No exceptions
By Norma Bennett Woolf
California Senate Bill 621 has been amended to include a $250 annual permit
for anyone who has sold, transferred, or given away "one or more dogs during
the preceding calendar year" or sold a puppy or kitten received from a third
party as a stud fee. The bill, which had been in hiatus since early summer,
is sponsored by Senator Herschel Rosenthal and is backed by the Animal Issues
Movement, a prime supporter of the Los Angeles "Spay or Pay" proposal.
Under this bill, breeders must provide a street address and stationary telephone
number on the permit application. Beepers and post office boxes are unacceptable
as the sole means of identification. Breeders must also apply for a seller's
permit from the Board of Equalization and pay sales taxes on their sales.
Occasional breeders - those who breed no more often than once every 36 months
- can get a temporary seller's permit. All applications for seller's permits
must include the breeder permit number.
Breeder permits must be listed in all advertising for sale, trade, or transfer
of puppies, including ad in newspapers, magazines, flyers, newsletters, electronic
media, the Internet, and the posting of signs. Any information given to publications
is considered public even if it is not printed.
The sale, trade, or transfer of puppies or dogs in public places is prohibited,
except that shelters may continue to operate off-site adoption programs.
Dog breeders must notify the State Department of Consumer Affairs and the State
Board of Equalization when they sell a dog.
AIM
The Animal Issues Movement of Los Angeles is organizing a support campaign
for SB 621 to achieve "a reduction in euthanasia of loving, gentle animals due
largely to the attitude of disposability garnered from an unending steam of
puppies."
In a letter to potential supporters, AIM asserts that "The AKC understands
this problem and states in its 1991 publication 'Should I Breed Any Dog' . .
. 'he (your neutered male dog) won't contribute to the already burgeoning population
of homeless puppies - something we should all be ashamed of.'"
The AKC brochure is actually titled "Should I breed My Dog?" and is an education
piece about the serious responsibility of breeding dogs and the health and behavior
advantages of sterilization surgery. The reference to the use of neutering as
a population control measure is confined to a single sentence: "And just
as important, he won't contribute to a population of homeless puppies!"
AIM also claims that the state loses more than $100 million per year because
breeders do not pay sales tax on puppy and dog sales and more millions of dollars
because breeders often do not report their income.
"Most hobbyist (backyard) breeders, many who have pedigree papers for their
dogs, make no effort to determine, or do not care, that the dog being bred may
carry inferior health characteristics or dangerous behavioral propensities,"
wrote AIM co-director Phyllis Daugherty in an indictment of home breeding of dogs."
. . . The unfortunate negative changes being experienced in the health ad soundness
of companion dogs is not accidental."
Daugherty said that passage of the bill will impact the deliberate breeding
of "mean" animals for crime and protection and the raising of dogs for fighting.
"Our objective in this 'no-kill' bill, and our obligation as a humane community,
is to bring into balance the number of animals bred to the number of homes available."
Shelter dogs
Although shelter populations in different parts of the country differ in percentages
of purebred dogs and puppies, there is much evidence that the majority of dogs
in shelters are mixed breeds and that the bulk of shelter dogs are between six
months and three years of age. Statistics published by the Center for Animals
and Public Policy at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine indicate
that about 44 percent of dogs are surrendered by their owners, many of them
because they require more training or care than the owners are willing to put
forth. In addition, the Tufts research shows that the number of puppies born
each year roughly equals the number of dogs that die in shelters, veterinary
clinics, homes, and on the highways combined.
According to Gary Patronek, VMD, PhD, acting director of CAPP, shelters in
some areas of the country cannot satisfy the demand for puppies and are importing
them from shelters in areas where there is a surplus. Patronek has conducted
studies in several shelters and has surveyed former pet owners who surrendered
their dogs.
According to the California Department of Health Services Rabies Control Activities
1995 report, 45,057 (37 percent) of the 120,011 dogs entering Los Angeles County
shelters that year were surrendered by their owners. Some were undoubtedly surrendered
for euthanasia because of old age, injury, or illness, but if Patronek's studies
present an accurate picture of dog population dynamics, the majority probably
lost their homes because their owners did not or could not spend the time and
energy to socialize or train their pets.
In fact, Patronek told an audience of purebred dog rescuers in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
in September, if we continue to push spay and neuter laws as the answer to a
problem he categorizes as "the disease of euthanasia," not "pet overpopulation,"
there may not be enough puppies to satisfy future demand.
"We're almost a victim of our own success in getting the message out about
spay and neuter," Patronek said. "We may be facing a problem in animal
welfare community that no one anticipated. People want animals. If we don't want
people to get animals from sources we think are inhumane, we should make sure
they can get animals from sources we approve of."
|
