URGENT!! AB1634

So I understand the end to which this bill has been written. What “they” are trying to accomplish is to rid California of the “backyard” breeder and irresponsible pet owners who allow their unaltered pets to roam and breed indiscriminately. However, the phrase “too much of a good thing” really should be used in describing AB 1634. In “their” effort to control the pet overpopulation they are taking a “punish everyone” stance. Yesterday (Thursday, June 28, 2007) the bill was amended to read the following:

(7) The owner furnishes the director of animal control services with a signed statement agreeing to the following conditions:
(A) Offspring of the unaltered animal may not be sold and may be adopted without a fee only after they reach eight weeks of age.
(B) Records will be kept documenting how many offspring were produced and who adopted them.

(8) The dog for whom the unaltered animal certification is sought is currently licensed pursuant to local requirements.

(9) The owner has considered having the animal microchipped for purposes of identification.
(b)The owner shall maintain records documenting how many offspring were produced or adopted, or both, and shall provide proof that the dog has been spayed or neutered after a single litter. This information shall be made available to an animal control agency upon request.

(c)The amount of the fee for an intact permit issued under this section shall be determined by the local jurisdiction and shall not exceed the cost of administering this section.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that date.

This will so cripple the responsible breeders who are not “licensed” breeders. There are hundreds of responsible people out there who breed champion show/performance dogs that will be severely affected by this bill. Notice that any person is only allowed 1 unaltered male and 1 unaltered female, and that they are to be spayed/neutered within 30 days after only 1 litter! It also does not allow you to sell your puppies! Any resulting offspring must be given away! And the name and contact information of the “adopting” persons must be given over to the “authorities” so that those animals can also be regulated! Imagine the law suites stemming from giving out other peoples personal information! This bill does not apply to breeders from out of state, so imagine the proliferation of puppy and kitten mills that are going to pop up to supply California with purebred pets. These puppy/kitten mills do not breed for quality, they breed for maximum profit. Animals will no longer be bred for specific traits that better the breed, but for the current trend of what the public is looking for at the moment. Responsible breeders already include a spay/neuter clause in their sales contract and every breeder that I know of retains partial ownership of any show quality animal that they sell.

In the end this is not going to curtail the number of unwanted animals in our shelters, the irresponsible pet owners will “disown” their pet in a moments notice when they are faced with a fine that is upwards of $500 per pet. Or they will be dumping these animals off at the shelters or even worse, on the street, to starve and risk the hazards of other animals, vehicles and people. This is not going to reduce the number of animals that are a result of the neighbors dog up the street running loose and breeding with the dog 2 blocks over. Or the cats that everyone seems to think are so cute as kittens and then dump them, unaltered, outside when they start jumping on the counters or scratching the furniture.

THIS IS GOING TO VOTE ON MONDAY, JULY 9TH. AT THIS TIME CURRENT PRELIMINARY VOTING SHOWS THAT THIS BILL WILL PASS! PLEASE CONTACT THE ASSEMBLYMEN LISTED BELOW AND LET THEM KNOW THAT THIS SHOULD BE VOTED AGAINST. IT IS GOING TO CAUSE MORE HARM THEN GOOD!

The following Assemblymen have voted to pass AB1634 in the most recent preliminary voting. Please email them asking them to vote NO on July 9th!
Juan Arambula - assemblymember.arambula@assembly.ca.gov

Karen Bass - assemblymember.bass@assembly.ca.gov

Jim Beall - assemblymember.beall@assembly.ca.gov

Patty Berg - assemblymember.berg@assembly.ca.gov

Julia Brownley - assemblymember.brownley@assembly.ca.gov

Wilmer Amina Carter - assemblymember.carter@assembly.ca.gov

Joe Coto - assemblymember.coto@assembly.ca.gov

Mike Davis - assemblymember.davis@assembly.ca.gov

Hector De La Torre - assemblymember.delatorre@assembly.ca.gov

Kevin De Leon - assemblymember.deleon@assembly.ca.gov

Mark De Saulnier - assemblymember.desaulnier@assembly.ca.gov

Mervyn Dymally - assemblymember.dymally@assembly.ca.gov

Mike Eng - assemblymember.eng@assembly.ca.gov

Noreen Evans - assemblymember.evans@assembly.ca.gov

Mike Feuer - assemblymember.feuer@assembly.ca.gov

Felipe Fuentes - assemblymember.fuentes@assembly.ca.gov

Cathleen Galgiani - assemblymember.galgiani@assembly.ca.gov

Loni Hancock - assemblymember.hancock@assembly.ca.gov

Mary Hayashi - assemblymember.hayashi@assembly.ca.gov

Edward Hernandez - assemblymember.hernandez@assembly.ca.gov

Jared Huffman - assemblymember.huffman@assembly.ca.gov

Dave Jones - assemblymember.jones@assembly.ca.gov

Betty Karnette - assemblymember.karnette@assembly.ca.gov

Paul Krekorian - assemblymember.krekorian@assembly.ca.gov

John Laird - assemblymember.laird@assembly.ca.gov

Mark Leno - assemblymember.leno@assembly.ca.gov

Lloyd Levine - assemblymember.levine@assembly.ca.gov

Sally Lieber - assemblymember.lieber@assembly.ca.gov

Ted Lieu - assemblymember.lieu@assembly.ca.gov

Gene Mullin - assemblymember.mullin@assembly.ca.gov

Pedro Nava - assemblymember.nava@assembly.ca.gov

Fabian Nunez - assemblymember.nunez@assembly.ca.gov

Anthony Portantino - assemblymember.portantino@assembly.ca.gov

Curren Price - assemblymember.price@assembly.ca.gov

Laura Richardson - assemblymember.richardson@assembly.ca.gov

Ira Ruskin - assemblymember.ruskin@assembly.ca.gov

Mary Salas - assemblymember.salas@assembly.ca.gov

Lori Saldana - assemblymember.saldana@assembly.ca.gov

Jose Solorio - assemblymember.solorio@assembly.ca.gov

Alberto Torrico - assemblymember.torrico@assembly.ca.gov

Lois Wolk - assemblymember.wolk@assembly.ca.gov

Plant Them And They Will Grow...

I believe that I planted my pumpkin patch, from seeds, around the end of April. At present I have 8 giant pumpkins and about 6 white pumpkins and a few jack-o-lanterns. The vines are growing so fast that you can almost watch them move across the yard.

Drew Graduated

Drew graduated from middle school this week. He has already started football practice for Arlington H.S.

God I feel old!

8 is Enough

On the eighth day God sent us Meebee.





Hey who let Weebee out? Just kidding no relation between the 2 of them.

Pumpkins

Jack-O-Lantern in back, Lumina in Front

Lumina on right, Jack-O-Lantern on left

Two of the Dill's on right and Big Max on Left (Dill's also in lower left corner)

Two Dill's

It's been about 8 weeks since I first planted the pumpkin seeds. I had originally plated 4 Dill's Giant Atlantic's, 3 Jack-O-Lanterns and 3 White Luminas. Then April gave me a Big Max. The Dill's are capable of producing fruit in excess of 400lbs, the Big Max 200lbs. The Luminas and the Jack-O-Lanterns, normal size. Everything I planted has come up and is thriving. I'll keep everyone posted with pictures as we progress.

If You Build It They Will Come...

So by now most of you know that we have a lot of animals. We are kind of the neighborhood animal shelter. Most of our 4-legged family members are cats that my husband has rescued from certain death as “wild” kitty’s. The count currently stands at 7 cats, 1 dog, 2 rats and 1 crooked legged horse. This does not include the horses that we use for the carriage company, as they have a job and pay for themselves.

So this morning, the neighbors cocker spaniel was out, yet again, running up and down the block & the So. Cal. Gas Co. was out doing meter readings, so the neighborhood was pretty noisy. Dog’s barking, birds going nuts, etc… Well every morning it’s the same routine for me, I unlock the truck, put my stuff in the front seat, start it up and walk down to the end of the driveway, get the paper and then back in the truck and off I go. So this morning amidst the all the chaos, I hear a sound. At first I’m think that it’s a mocking bird or one of the local wild parrots in the neighbors’ tree. Then I realize that this noise is coming from the neighbors’ truck, and their windows are open a bit. So I walk over expecting to see a bird in the cab of their truck, and that’s when I realize that what I hear is not a bird, but a little kitten in the engine compartment of the truck. Now I live in So. Cal. so I have several neighbors who don’t speak a word of english, or at least not enough that we can communicate effectively. So I shut off my truck, go back in my house and in my best spanish write a note “Gato in engine,” and put it on their windshield. Of course, because I deviated form my usual routine, Brandon was curious about what was going on. I tried to down play it as best I could by saying, “Oh, there’s a cat in the neighbors truck,” and leaving it at that. Of course the questions continue and he finally know that there is a kitten in the engine compartment. Okay, so I finally get out the door to go to work.

At 9:00am my direct line at work rings, it’s Brandon. Apparently when Drew went to leave for school he heard the kitten and went back in and told Brandon that he was able to see it. So the 2 of them head out to our neighbors truck. Brandon coaxed the kitten out with some food and called me to find out what to do with it. From his description it sounds like it is probably 6-8 weeks old. He said that he put in up in the bushes by our front door and it sat there and cried for him. So as I type this we now have another small mouth in our house. He/she is cordoned off in my bedroom with the dog, who most of you don’t know is currently convalescing in my bedroom while recovering from surgery to repair his broken leg. Yep, broke both the ulna and the radius, all the way through. He now has a $1200 piece of plastic, with some JB Weld and 9 finishing nails holding his leg together.

I wonder if this is what Moses felt like?