Do you realize that all states already have this law - it's called a dog license

It's more expensive for unaltered animals than for altered animals

Do you also realize - that unlike helmets or car seats - you have to register you dog or cat with a specific club?

And finally the people that are sending the UNWANTED puppies to the shelters  are the ones that are NOT buying licenses for their dogs.

The only section of society this bill is going to hurt are the ones that care for their pets in the first place and care for the government rules in the second place.

A breeder that dumps dogs on a shelter is quickly  labeled 'bad' by his fellow breeders and is quickly shunned by buyers.

The only people that don't care about that are the puppy mills breeders and guess which clubs are willing to accept their blood money.

Let me give you a choice of names:

It's not choice E.

Weebles,

YOu ask how do we stop the killing of pets?

How do you stop people from killing each other? Or beating their kids?  Education, Education Education.

Reading what people are saying,reading for yourself what the facts really are, and then MOST IMPORTANTLY- acting on it!

If you hear somebody say - I really love my dog and we're going to breed him to get one just like him - STOP them.  Tey are breeding NOT cloning - the chances of getting a dog just like precious Rover are slim and what about the other 5, 6, or 7 puppies?

If you hear someone say I really need some extra money and everybody just loves Piddy, she's such a wonderful cat - STOP THEM - breeding for money is the very worse reason - How much can you possibly make after special food for the mom, worming, first shots,  and what if the kittens are not sold - are they going to throw them in the nearest river or drop them off on some farmer, or dump them at a shelter?

If you care -act.

I am a veterinarian with seventeen years of experience in clinical practice. I spent 12years becoming a veterinarian.  I have worked with Mastiff Rescue, Siamese Rescue and Brittany Spaniel Rescue. In my seventeen years as a veterinarian, I have not met a SINGLE responsible breeder. I hear of theretical responsible breeders existance, but I have yet to meet one in person.

Today, a breeder asked to have her Bassett Hound puppy with a treatable disease put to sleep--if she treated it, she would not make any profit on it.  Ask yourself, what sort of mentality does it take to look at a puppy with giant eyes and ears, and euthanize it?  In any argument, follow the money.  Who stands to lose it?   The context of breeding a dog or a cat at this time, is that you are adding a dog or cat to an overpopulation. We have an excess of a million pets a year in California. We are KILLING a dog or a cat EVERY 20 SECONDS in our state. We are killing about five million in our contry. What does that say about us?

You can argue all you want about constitutional rights, but unless we stop the flow of surplus animals, we are chosing to keep things status quo.  Breeders have no solutions. They are pointing fingers at someone else, and twisting the truth,  because if the bill passes, it will cost them some money.  The dogs and cats are not beings, they are widgets. When a bad one is born, you breed another one, until a judge gives you a prize, status and that earns you some more money and status.

I challenge you to walk into your nearest shelter tomorrow, walk out knowing that half of the animals you saw will be killed, and then... continue arguing.  In this argument--you are either for stopping the killing of innocent beings, or you are for continuing it.  If you want to stop the killing, DO SOMETHING.  Please.

Dr. Ena

Just a few points Dr Ena: was the Basset's treatable disease hereditary?  Is the Basset breeder/owner affiliated with any national or local clubs or organizations?  Does the Basset breeder require a contract with every dog sold?  Does the Basset breeder compete in any field trials or conformation?  Did you see the puppy's mother for a pre-breeding exam, a pre-natal exam, a newborn/post-partum exam of mother and litter within 48 hours of birth?  Did this Basset breeder have you on telephone standby when the bitch began labor?  A responsible breeder would have had you involved before the conception.  How do you know this is not some backyard breeder or, worse yet, a puppy mill breeder?   

I am surprised that you never met a responsible dog breeder in your years of practice.  I worked many years with veterinarians in California, Maryland, and Iowa, and the vets I worked with loved getting the show/competition breeders because they would spend a fortune on their dogs.  Before I "got into" the dog world, I thought the breeder/show/competition dog people I met at work were a little cuckoo about their dogs.  They would bring them in for the tiniest thing; something the average dog owner wouldn't even notice.  The difference between the backyard breeder and a responsible breeder: I checked in a poodle bitch with a prolapsed uterus that had happened the night before (backyard) vs. I checked in a Weimaraner dog with a growth the size of a small split pea on his thigh (responsible). 

Dr Ena, if you would like to meet a responsible dog breeder, we call them hobby-breeders, I can introduce you to half a dozen tomorrow.  They are proud of the animals who carry their kennel name.  They compete in AKC and ARBA shows and field trials.  They can talk intelligently with you on skeletal structure, congenital defects, vaccination protocols, and nutrition.  Of course they stand to lose money if more fees are required for them to keep a couple animals intact.  Some of them will not be able to afford it and will have to retire their show dogs.  It won't be the loss of status that hurts them, it won't be the loss of income (they will actually be saving money by not showing dogs), the pain will be the loss of their bloodlines and the loss of their efforts over decades to improve their breed. 

TK, who are you???  You are so right on in all of your posts.  And to DrEnaDVM, I am truly sorry that you have such a bad perception of breeders.  Obviously the breeder you mention is not the type of breeder we are referring to.  I have a wonderful relationship with all the 19 vets on staff where I go...they all know I am a breeder and they all respect me, and refer clients who want Cavaliers to me...not because I breed much, but because I know who the other good breeders are in the area and they trust my judgement.  They also know I will do ANYTHING for my dogs to keep them happy and healthy.  They know I place my puppies in well screened homes, and will take those puppies back for any reason at any time if it doesn't work out.  I am a member of two national breed clubs, and I'm also the rescue chair for our local AKC affiliate.  And, not one puppy I have EVER bred has ended up in a shelter.

The "breeders" you should be railing against are the brokers who sell puppy mill dogs in this and other states.  When we outlaw the selling of puppies by brokers, you will see the incidence of purebred dogs in shelters go down dramatically.  Then go after the back yard breeders (who I suspect was the Basset breeder).  They truly do not care about their animals and are only out to make a buck, pure and simple. 

There ARE good, honest, ethical breeders out there and they are the ones the state should be encouraging, not trying to slap us with having to buy an intact animal permit that no one can possibly even qualify for.