(The measure, originally scheduled for action on Mar. 3, was put off for a week to make corrections for accuracy on spay/neuter time frames, says City of LB Acting Public Affairs Officer Kerry Gerot.
[Scroll down for further.]
| (Mar. 10, 2015, 6:10 a.m.) -- The Long Beach City Council is scheduled to take the first of two enacting votes tonight (Mar. 10) on a proposed ordinance that would require dog owners to spay or neuter their pets (unless the dog has a medical exclusion or exemption) and would prohibit the sale of dogs, cats or rabbits in any pet shop or other commercial business unless the furry friends come from an animal shelter, humane society, rescue organization (or are bred on the premises with a valid breeding permit,)
(The measure, originally scheduled for action on Mar. 3, was put off for a week to make corrections for accuracy on spay/neuter time frames, says City of LB Acting Public Affairs Officer Kerry Gerot. [Scroll down for further.] |
|
The measure is strongly supported by Friends of Long Beach Animals (LB's long-standing all-volunteer non-profit spay-neuter educational group) and on Facebook has urged its supporters to attend tonight's Council session (scheduled start time: 5:00 p.m.) On November 18, 2014, the Council voted 8-0 (Assemblyman-elect O'Donnell absent) to direct the City Attorney to prepare ordinance text in the item. The measure was brought forward by Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal, joined by Councilmembers Suzie Price and Stacy Mungo (without discussion in any Council committee, which isn't legally required.) In the November 2014 Council session, Councilman Al Austin voiced some misgivings about the proposal but voted to approve drafting a measure to continue debate. [Scroll down for further text]
The proposed ordinance has drawn the attention of the American Kennel Club, which opposes mandatory measures, and has stated on its website [regarding the Mar. 3 ordinance] that "responsible dog owners and breeders oppose this burdensome ordinance." [AKC advocacy text] There are no provisions in this ordinance to exempt hunting or sporting dogs, those who compete in companion events such as agility or rally, and even for exempted dogs the Director of the Animal Care Services Bureau has the power to disallow an intact license. It is also important to consider that in the neighboring City of Los Angeles, a similar, ordinance was passed with exemptions for dogs that participate in hunting, agility, obedience and other events, but those exemptions were later removed because it was too time consuming for staff to administer them. It is not unreasonable to think that Long Beach could also further restrict the rights of responsible owners to own intact animals... AKC also states: [AKC advocacy text] The American Kennel Club opposes mandatory spay/neuter as ineffective because it fails to address the underlying issue of irresponsible ownership. California state law already provides for the sterilization of animals adopted from shelters and mandates that the license fee for intact animals be at least double that of sterilized animals. Mandatory sterilization requirements will merely punish those who are responsible owners and breeders; irresponsible owners who are not complying with current laws are unlikely to continue their behavior under new laws. Enacting a LB ordinance requires two Council majority enacting votes (March 10 will be the first) at which time the Council can approve the draft text as submitted, or direct minor tweaks or larger revisions. [Disclosure: LBREPORT.com is a longtime supporter of Friends of Long Beach Animals, and vice versa.] blog comments powered by Disqus Recommend LBREPORT.com to your Facebook friends:
Follow LBReport.com with:
Contact us: mail@LBReport.com |
       
 Hardwood Floor Specialists Call (562) 422-2800 or (714) 836-7050  |
