Rethinking AB 1634 California Healthy Pets Act
Before Assemlymember Julia Brownley casts her vote for AB 1634, the California Healthy Pets Act, I would like to invite her to come to the nonprofit pure breed Boxer Rescue where I volunteer. There she will see 150 dogs that were rescued from kill shelters. These beautiful boxers were slated to be exterminated because of over-breeding. Our boxers now sit caged day after day waiting for a home that may never come. Without rescue intervention over 500,000 helpless animals will be killed just because no one is there to take them home. We are having an animal holocaust in our state. How is the disposing of thousands of animals morally ethical? Is society’s sponsoring of an animal atrocity our true test of humanity? Is the ongoing extermination of thousands of family pets the best solution the most civilized society on earth can find for a problem that is only getting worse?
The root of the problem is easily identifiable, over-breeding and the failure to spay and neuter. The opposition states that animals are their “property,” and they can do whatever they wish to them. However, an animal is a living creature who cannot speak or make choices, and depend on the goodwill of mankind for their survival. Many breeders claim that they are only a “hobby” breeder. However they are selling puppies and kittens for a tidy non-taxed profit. Is this really what the opposition is all about? No business license, no regulations, no income tax. Is it fair to taxpayers who are saddled with the expense of this problem? Is it fair to the taxpayer, whose tax dollars pay the unfortunate shelter employees who carry the emotional burden to drag a frightened animal on a rope to the kill room? Is this the America you are proud of at the expense of man’s best friend? AB 1634, the California Healthy Pets Act, is a fiscally conservative bill and a humane solution to animal overpopulation. Save money, save lives.
Haze Lynn
Santa Monica
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According to the most recent Gallup Poll, 75 percent of Republicans approve of President Bush’s performance, down from 95 percent in 2002.
No wonder. This administration has violated core Republican principles of small government (the huge intrusion into education), fiscal responsibility (increase in the national debt), free enterprise (more profits for Friends of Bush, less for the rest), and it has violated the principle of the preservation of our national strength, with a needless war that has weakened the country and increased threats to national security.
Note: Principles of the Republican Party from the Republican Party website: gop.com. See especially: http://www.gop.com/About/AboutRead.aspx?AboutType=3&Section=19
Stephen Krashen
Malibu
