bonniegrrl | Assembly OKs bill on Calif. laws for pit dogs (Reply)

Assembly OKs bill on local laws for dogs
Cities could create spay/neuter rules for vicious canines
Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Sacramento -- In the wake of highly publicized pit bull attacks this year, the state Assembly passed legislation Monday allowing cities and counties to create local spaying and neutering requirements for specific breeds of dogs.

Under current state law, municipalities cannot enact animal control policies based on breeds. But after dog attacks led to the death of a 12-year- old San Francisco boy and the injury of an 8-year-old Santa Rosa girl, local officials, including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, began seeking authority to pursue their own laws.

The bill does not allow local jurisdictions to ban specific breeds, but it does allow cities to require that certain breeds be spayed or neutered.

Though it has the support of some animal rights groups, including the ASPCA, it has also been opposed by some dog owners, who say that spaying and neutering will not alleviate the problem of attacks, and that policies should not be made by municipalities on a piecemeal basis.

Animal control officials have testified in support of it, saying as many as 70 percent of dog attacks involve unspayed or un-neutered animals.

The measure, AB861 by Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, passed the Assembly on a 54-19 vote, with eight Republicans splitting ranks to join Democrats in passing it. The measure must also be approved by the Senate before it will be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

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In response, here come the dog comments on sorryagain.com

Personally, I'm okay with making a law that says all pits should be neutered and spayed. But if I recall, that bill had a lot of "extras" that weren't so cool for pit owners including insurance fees and other cost issues....

If you want to do something about the bill getting passed, you might want to consider attending the BAD RAP Conference 2005: Pit Bull Perspectives in October, as well as other pit bull activist events in the Bay Area.