State Legislation

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STATE LEGISLATIONfrom VIRGINIA HANDLY Paw PACPO Box 475012, SF 94147415/626-02442010 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATION 4/15/10NEXT LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS:MAY 17, JUNE 14, ROOM 115, 10:30 TO 12:30STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, SACRAMENTOANIMAL ADVOCATES WELCOME All Legislators: State Capitol Bldg, Sacramento, Calif. 95841ASSEMBLYAB 979 by Assemblyman Tom Berryhill re: Hunting. Oppose. Prohibits any local ordinance that regulates hunting. Next Hearing: Senate Floor.Write: Your Senator. Tell him/her AB 979, introduced in 2009, is another attempt by hunters to prohibit locals from having any power over hunting in their communities.AB 979 by Assemblyman Tom Berryhill re: Hunting. Oppose. Prohibits any local ordinance that regulates hunting. Next Hearing: Senate Floor. Write: Your Senator. Tell him/her AB 979, introduced in 2009, is another attempt by hunters to prohibit locals from having any power over hunting in their communities.AB 1656 by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma re: Fur Labeling. Support. Requires all fur products to declare the species and country of origin. Next Hearing: Senate Judiciary. Write: Senator Ellen Corbett, Chair. Tell her that federal law requires labeling of fur worth over $150. Fur is sold in California under $150, often as trim. AB 1656 closes that loophole.AB 1675 by Assemblyman Curt Hagman re: Tresspassing. Makes it a misdemeanor to trespass at a zoo or aquarium. It is sponsored by SF Zoo after a man entered the bear grotto. “Zoo” is defined as any enclosure of living animals for display. Next Hearing: Assembly Floor.AB 1980 by Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi re: Animal Shelters. Support. Allows animal shelters to provide first aid for injured animals. Hearing: Assembly Business & Professions. Write: Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, Chair. Thank her for introducing AB 1980. Animals come into shelters who need immediate attention, many times in the night or when/where emergency treatment is not available. AB 1980 makes it clear in the Veterinary Practices Act that first aid can be given by trained shelter personnel. AB 2000 by Assemblyman Curt Hagman re: Rabies. Allows an annual exemption to the mandatory rabies shot in order to get a dog license if a veterinarian states the shot will compromise the dog’s health. During that time the dog must be quarantined. Next Hearing: Assembly Appropriations. AB 2012 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu re: Cruelty Penalties. Revises penalties for animal cruelty to make sections consistent that animal abusers can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony. Hearing: Assembly Public Safety. April 20.AB 2223 by Assemblyman Pedro Nava re: Lead Shot. Support. Prohibits lead shot in designated wildlife areas. Hearing: Assembly Appropriations. Write: Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, Chair. Tell him that lead is banned in products to protect the public yet is allowed to poison our wildlife with lead bullets. AB 2411 by Assemblyman Dave Jones re: Pet Insurance. Support. Requires pet insurance companies to provide better consumer information, such as defining “pre-existing conditions”. Hearing: Assembly Appropriations. Write: Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, Chair. Tell him many people depend on insurance for medical care of their animals. They need complete consumer information on what is covered.AB 2427 by Assemblyman Bill Berryhill re: Hunting. Oppose. Prohibits any prohibition on hunting by the Fish and Game Commission. Hearing: Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife. April 27. Write: Assemblyman Jared Huffman, Chair. Tell him the Commission has the authority to regulate hunting. It is highly unlikely they would impose such a ban (current Commissioners are all hunters). AB 2427 is another paranoid attempt by hunters to counteract the majority of Californians who do not support hunting.AB 2689 by Assemblyman Cameron Smyth re: Dog Licenses. Support. Allows public and animal control to use e-mail, computers, and faxes to have information on rabies vaccinations which are required for dogs to be licensed. Hearing: Assembly Local Government. Write: Assemblyman Mike Feuer, Chair. Tell him that modern technology should be used.AB 2743 by Assemblyman Pedro Nava re: De-Clawing/Debarking. Support. Prohibits landlords from requiring a cat to be de-clawed or dog to be debarked. Hearing: Assembly Judiciary. Write: Assemblyman Mike Feuer, Chair. Tell him landlords should not mandate the mutilation of animals for residency.SENATESB 250 by Senator Dean Florez re: Spay/Neuter. Support. Requires dogs/cats to be spayed/neutered with exemptions. SB 250 was introduced in 2009 but failed passage on the Assembly Floor. Next Hearing: Assembly Floor. Write: Your Assembly Member. Tell him/her that pet overpopulation costs the lives of animals and cities/counties millions of dollars to kill them for lack of space in shelters.SB 1058 Senator Tom Harman re: Hunting. Oppose. Declares hunting and fishing to be particularly desirable in state wildlife management areas and sets up the Big Game Management Account in which the money can only be used to enhance those hunting programs. Next Hearing: Senate Appropriations. Write: Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair. Tell her Californians support wildlife protection for their own intrinsic value and that hunting is a priority of only 3% of the population.SB 1179 by Senator Dennis Hollingsworth re: Hunting. Oppose. Provides two free hunting days a year. Unlicensed hunters can hunt (guns, bows & arrows) if accompanied by a licensed hunter. Hearing: Senate Appropriations. Write: Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair. Tell her hunters who have not bothered to attend the Hunter Training class or paid any license fee should not be allowed to hunt. SB 1277 by Senator Dean Florez re: Animal Abuse Registration. Support. Requires those convicted of felony animal abuse to register with local authorities and the info available to the public. To fund the registry, people convicted of misdemeanor animal cruelty would be fined $200 and felons fined $500. Hearing: Senate Public Safety. April 20. Write: Senator Mark Leno, Chair. Tell him animal abusers, like sex offenders, move from county to county to repeat their crimes. SB 1345 by Senator Calderon re: Kangaroos. Oppose. Allows the sale of kangaroo products, such as athletic shoes, for an additional 5 years. Existing law allowing it would expire in 2011. From 1973 until 2008, no kangaroo products were allowed here. Next Hearing: Senate Appropriations . Write: Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair. Tell her SB 1345 has nothing to do with conservation and everything to do with profit by Adidas and the Australian government.SB 1417 by Senator Dave Cox re: Humane Officers. Oppose. Puts additional requirements on organizations applying to appoint a humane officer. SB 1417 requires that a humane society be in existence for five years and have an animal shelter for three years before being able to apply to appoint a humane officer. Hearing: Senate Judiciary. April 20. Write: Senator Ellen Corbett, Chair. Tell her it is unreasonable to mandate a five year wait before humane officers can apply or require them to operate an animal shelter for three years. Humane officers are an endangered species. They are needed more than ever to protect animals as animal control budgets are being cut.SJR 22 by Dean Florez re: Horses. Support. Asks the President/Congress to support legislation to protect horses from slaughter. Next Hearing: Senate Floor. Write: Your Senator. Tell him/her that California has banned horse slaughter but we need a national ban to prevent our California horses from being sent out of state/US for slaughter.Budget 2010 budget once again “suspends” the Hayden law which requires longer holding periods for strays in shelters. This “unfunded state mandate” has costs cities/counties millions of dollars which the state is no longer willing/able to reimburse. Although it is still on the books, the state will not pay for it and cities/counties are not obliged to adhere to it. Other mandates on holding periods of owner surrendered animals (who shelters are not required to accept), and cooperation with rescue organizations taking shelter animals remain in effect.