Confused- Is S.B. 250 good or is it bad because it hurts feral and low-income cat households?

[Guest guest]

Dear Fellow Sfbaveg,

 

I am confused.  I thought S.B. 250 was a good and important bill.  However, I just got this from Alley Cat Allies (who help feral cats).  Anyone have any more info on all of this?

 

Thanks,

Stephanie

 

 

Dear Stephanie,

Cats in California need your help today! On Tuesday, the California Assembly Committee on Business and Professions will vote on S.B. 250. Many of you urged the California Senate to reject this bill because it would hurt cats, especially those cared for by feral cat caregivers and low-income cat owners. Instead, the Senate passed the bill by just one vote.

Please act now and urge committee members to oppose S.B. 250. 

S.B. 250 is bad for cats:

 

The bill targets people who care for stray and feral cats. If a caregiver were unable to trap and neuter a cat, the bill would label her a lawbreaker. Cat caregivers should be encouraged, not threatened with violating the law.

The bill does nothing to keep feral cats out of pounds and shelters. Because feral cats are not adoption candidates, being sent to a shelter is a death sentence.

The bill does nothing to lower the cost or expand the availability of spay/neuter. A recent study commissioned by Alley Cat Allies found that among lower-income owners of intact pet cats, cost was one of the main obstacles to spaying and neutering. In higher-income households, 93% of cats are already neutered.

 

Cats live better lives when they are spayed and neutered. For this reason, Alley Cat Allies supports spay/neuter, particularly high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter programs. These programs help stray and feral cats and cats in low-income households alike, and they have proven effective at increasing the number of cats neutered. But instead of supporting what works, S.B. 250 does not provide for, fund, or even suggest the creation of low-cost spay/neuter clinics.

Help us stop this bill. Urge the Assembly Committee to oppose S.B. 250 today. 

Sincerely,Becky RobinsonPresident

P.S. Read more about the U.S. cat population and its neuter status.

P.P.S. Read the letter Alley Cat Allies sent to members of the Committee on Business and Professions.

-- " Our task must be to widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. "   Albert Einstein " The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the ways its animals are treated. "    Mahatma Gandhi

[Guest guest]

I understand that everyone or practically

everyone on this list wants to help the cats, and the dogs and the

shelters. I think that’s great. I do too. The problem

is that a majority of these issues aren’t preventing anyone from helping

the dogs and the cats and the shelters. They are NOT requiring the

shelters to kill the animals after 3 days. They just can’t continue

to foot the bill for it. What the state is trying to do is balance the budget

which is a nearly if not impossible task. Fire stations are closing. Teachers

are being laid off. Vital educational programs are being cancelled.

The school year is being shortened. Not to mention a myriad of other cuts

that are causing the PEOPLE to lose valuable and necessary benefits and public safety

services. I’m fine with the state not paying for cats being

neutered. It’s not their job. It IS their job however, to

fund fire safety and education.

 

I have kids and cats and lots of feral

cats in the neighborhood that are cared for by “our neighborhood”.

I’m sorry, but I’d rather my kids be able to get a decent education

and somehow, someday get class sizes reduced again. I’d rather our

fire department around the corner NOT be a vacant lot. The State is not

in the business of buying feral cats a neuter job. If the people want to

help the cats, the state isn’t going to throw you in jail for that.

Quite frankly they don’t have room nor enough money to put you in

jail. If you want to help the cats, by all means, help the cats.

Just don’t ask me to pay for it with my tax dollars and exchange that for

teachers at our schools.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

 

Wynelle Ulrich

 

Perhaps artist

Hans Hoffman said it best: “The ability to simplify means to eliminate

the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” My question

is: " And how, exactly, is that done? "

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Behalf Of S Falcone

Friday, June 26, 2009 4:41

PM

 

Confused- Is

S.B. 250 good or is it bad because it hurts feral and low-income cat

households?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Fellow Sfbaveg,

 

 

 

 

 

I am confused. I thought S.B. 250 was a good and important

bill. However, I just got this from Alley Cat Allies (who help feral

cats). Anyone have any more info on all of this?

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Stephanie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Stephanie,

 

Cats

in California

need your help today! On Tuesday, the California

Assembly Committee on Business and Professions will vote on S.B. 250. Many of

you urged the California Senate to reject this bill because it would

hurt cats, especially those cared for by feral cat caregivers and low-income

cat owners. Instead, the Senate passed the bill by just one vote.

Please act now and urge committee members to oppose S.B. 250.

S.B. 250

is bad for cats:

 

The bill targets people who care for stray and

feral cats. If a caregiver were unable to trap and neuter a cat, the bill

would label her a lawbreaker. Cat caregivers should be encouraged, not

threatened with violating the law.

The bill does nothing to keep feral cats out of

pounds and shelters. Because feral cats are not adoption candidates, being

sent to a shelter is a death sentence.

The bill does nothing to lower the cost or expand

the availability of spay/neuter. A recent study commissioned by Alley Cat

Allies found that among lower-income owners of intact pet cats, cost was

one of the main obstacles to spaying and neutering. In higher-income

households, 93% of cats are already neutered.

 

Cats live

better lives when they are spayed and neutered. For this reason, Alley Cat

Allies supports spay/neuter, particularly high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter

programs. These programs help stray and feral cats and cats in low-income

households alike, and they have proven effective at increasing the number of

cats neutered. But instead of supporting what works, S.B. 250 does not provide

for, fund, or even suggest the creation of low-cost spay/neuter clinics.

Help us stop this bill. Urge the Assembly Committee to oppose

S.B. 250 today.

Sincerely,

 

Becky Robinson

President

P.S. Read more about the U.S. cat population and its neuter status.

P.P.S. Read the letter Alley Cat Allies sent to members of the

Committee on Business and Professions.

 

 

--

" Our task must be to widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living

creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. " Albert

Einstein

 

" The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the

ways its animals are treated. " Mahatma Gandhi

[Guest guest]

This list is first and foremost a resource for individuals who want to connect with others about veg*nism and animal rights. Some of those people may be involved in animal rescue and adoptions, but that is not the primary function of this list.

 

I did want to respond to this one statement in Wynelle's email: "If you want to help the cats, by all means, help the cats. Just don’t ask me to pay for it with my tax dollars and exchange that for teachers at our schools."

 

Personally, I think everyone has their interests .. and for those who have chosen not to have children (perhaps for personal or environmental reasons), they may feel equally as strongly that they would rather have their tax dollars going to support animals who have no guardians to speak on their behalf and for their interests. And, these aren't mutually exclusive; one can support cats and kids...

 

I think the two most important actions that anyone concerned with the future of all life on this planet can do is:

1) go vegan

2) don't breed (kids, or any other animals)

 

Tammy

 

My two cents, vegan-style .. - today or read it on GenerationV.org

 

[Guest guest]

I have not looke over S.B. 250 but jumping in here to say that spay-neuter is the responsibility of society collectively. It is very important to understand that just as educating children and providing fire safety are societal issues that the state should pay for, so is the societal issue of spay/neuter of feral cats. Cats did not choose to be left on the street to starve and die. They were socialized and domesticated by and with humans. When cats begin to scream in the night or spray then humans come along to kill them. It IS the responsibility of the society who put them here to foot the bill for their spay and neuter. For people who look around and say the cats are not my responsibility, they are leaving the responsibility on the backs of the compassionate (and in many cases, to those who are less

fortunate and less able financially or physically to deal with the problem). It is not the responsibility of the little old lady down the street either, but she has given up her life to trap, feed, house, and help the cats that she did not put there. She stretches her compassion out to cover what should be the joint responsibility of all the other people on the block. Those who look the other way are leaving the problem for somebody else to deal with, the problem that could easily be handled by society collectively with a relatively small investment for wide-scale spay/neuter. By not funding spay and neuter, you are directly causing cats to be killed by the system because humans consider the lives of other animals to be a "nuisance". There is plenty of money for all these programs if taxes were equitable and the Republican revolution had not re-distributed tax wealth from the haves to the have-nots. Feral

cats should not get the death penalty just because their survival is considered a nuisance- they are excluded from having plots of land by our system so they deserve the right to share ours.

 

Beth S.

 

--- On Sat, 6/27/09, Wynelle Ulrich <wynelleu wrote:

Wynelle Ulrich <wynelleuRE: Confused- Is S.B. 250 good or is it bad because it hurts feral and low-income cat households?"'S Falcone'" <bekindbecause, "''" Saturday, June 27, 2009, 12:29 AM

 

 

 

 

I understand that everyone or practically everyone on this list wants to help the cats, and the dogs and the shelters. I think that’s great. I do too. The problem is that a majority of these issues aren’t preventing anyone from helping the dogs and the cats and the shelters. They are NOT requiring the shelters to kill the animals after 3 days. They just can’t continue to foot the bill for it. What the state is trying to do is balance the budget which is a nearly if not impossible task. Fire stations are closing. Teachers are being laid off. Vital educational programs are being cancelled. The school year is being shortened. Not to mention a myriad of other cuts that are causing the PEOPLE to lose valuable and necessary benefits and public safety services. I’m fine

with the state not paying for cats being neutered. It’s not their job. It IS their job however, to fund fire safety and education.

 

I have kids and cats and lots of feral cats in the neighborhood that are cared for by “our neighborhoodâ€. I’m sorry, but I’d rather my kids be able to get a decent education and somehow, someday get class sizes reduced again. I’d rather our fire department around the corner NOT be a vacant lot. The State is not in the business of buying feral cats a neuter job. If the people want to help the cats, the state isn’t going to throw you in jail for that. Quite frankly they don’t have room nor enough money to put you in jail. If you want to help the cats, by all means, help the cats. Just don’t ask me to pay for it with my tax dollars and exchange that for teachers at our schools.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

 

Wynelle Ulrich

 

Perhaps artist Hans Hoffman said it best: “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.†My question is: "And how, exactly, is that done?"

 

 

 

 

@ .com [] On Behalf Of S FalconeFriday, June 26, 2009 4:41 PM Confused- Is S.B. 250 good or is it bad because it hurts feral and low-income cat households?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Fellow Sfbaveg,

 

 

 

I am confused. I thought S.B. 250 was a good and important bill. However, I just got this from Alley Cat Allies (who help feral cats). Anyone have any more info on all of this?

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Stephanie

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Stephanie,

Cats in California need your help today! On Tuesday, the California Assembly Committee on Business and Professions will vote on S.B. 250. Many of you urged the California Senate to reject this bill because it would hurt cats, especially those cared for by feral cat caregivers and low-income cat owners. Instead, the Senate passed the bill by just one vote.

Please act now and urge committee members to oppose S.B. 250.

S.B. 250 is bad for cats:

 

The bill targets people who care for stray and feral cats. If a caregiver were unable to trap and neuter a cat, the bill would label her a lawbreaker. Cat caregivers should be encouraged, not threatened with violating the law.

The bill does nothing to keep feral cats out of pounds and shelters. Because feral cats are not adoption candidates, being sent to a shelter is a death sentence.

The bill does nothing to lower the cost or expand the availability of spay/neuter. A recent study commissioned by Alley Cat Allies found that among lower-income owners of intact pet cats, cost was one of the main obstacles to spaying and neutering. In higher-income households, 93% of cats are already neutered.

Cats live better lives when they are spayed and neutered. For this reason, Alley Cat Allies supports spay/neuter, particularly high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter programs. These programs help stray and feral cats and cats in low-income households alike, and they have proven effective at increasing the number of cats neutered. But instead of supporting what works, S.B. 250 does not provide for, fund, or even suggest the creation of low-cost spay/neuter clinics.

Help us stop this bill. Urge the Assembly Committee to oppose S.B. 250 today.

Sincerely,Becky RobinsonPresident

P.S. Read more about the U.S. cat population and its neuter status.P.P.S. Read the letter Alley Cat Allies sent to members of the Committee on Business and Professions.

-- "Our task must be to widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the ways its animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi

[Guest guest]

On the other hand: if our parents followed this

advice, we wouldn't be having this discussion... ;-)

 

I, on the other hand, believe we (the veg*ans, people

passionate about the planet earth, etc.) should be

having more kids, so our legacy and activism can live on!

 

See you all at the Pride Parade!

 

XOXOXO

 

On 06/27/2009 06:18 PM, Tammy, BAVeg wrote:

> I think the two most important actions that anyone concerned with the

> future of /all/ life on this planet can do is:

> 1) go vegan

> 2) don't breed (kids, or any other animals)

>

> Tammy