Suki
08-19-2006, 01:14 AM
Way To Go!!!http://www.game-dog.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif
Forward with permission
SACRAMENTO CITY COUNCIL DECLINES TO ADOPT "OVERPOPULATION" ORDINANCE BY
ANIMAL EXTREMISTS
C. Chan,Esq.
August 15, 2006
Animal extremists had worked for two years to push this ordinance which
called for intact pets to be registered at a fee of $150, whereas altered
pets were to be $30. Shelter director Pat Claerbout used unsubstantiated
data from both North Carolina and Washington in an attempt to convince the
City Council that this plan causes a drop in euthanasia. It did not work,
and the proposed ordinance goes back to the drawing board, where the
Council
will review it next year.
Many spoke out against the ordinance at the City Council hearings. This
included private citizens, breeders, veterinarians, and dog/cat owners. The
consistent theme of most speakers was the fact that responsible owners and
breeders would be bearing the brunt of the "pet tax", and that the intended
target of irresponsible owners/or breeders, would be missed simply because
they would not comply.
Two ACF members contacted Supervisor Vice Chair, Don Nottoli, and went over
some of the perceived problems with the data given by Animal Control prior
to the final hearing. It was Nottoli's position that if a law is not
enforced, it would serve little purpose. Given the fact that shelter
populations in California have been reduced by approximately 50%, with the
euthanasia rate dropping almost the same percentage, implementing an
ordinance which was allegedly based on the "overpopulation" statistics did
not seem to mesh well. Perhaps the Supervisors began to realize that the
animal extremists had used the Animal Control as a pawn, and turned over
data that was inaccurate and misleading.
The extremists behind the ordinance include the Animal Protection Institute
and the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights. In addition, Dawn
Capp of "CHAKO", the plaintiff organization suing the city of San
Francisco,
helped "craft" the Animal Control's proposed ordinance which failed to
pass.
Opponents had organized and assembled a collection of accurate data which
included the fact that Sacramento has shelters which actually "import" dogs
to be adopted. Additionally, much statistical data was given to the city
council which indicated that the alleged "overpopulation" numbers did not
add up, and that adoptable pets (especially dogs) are not easy to come by
these days, particularly pups. Opponents also polled the newspaper ads in
Sacramento, finding that up to 70% of the pet ads were from area codes
outside of Sacramento---this would mean that these owners would not be
subject to Sacramento jurisdiction for the $150 fee in any event.
Animal extremists have now embarked on a "Lobbying 101" course to further
educate their people. As the extremists are a very emotional group, they
try to maintain a semblance of reasonableness by following the
International
Society for Animal Rights' (ISAR) protocol, which advises them to garner
support from 'friendly' legislative allies.
Knowing this, opponents need to hone in on the lawmakers, city councils,
supervisors, and involved key governmental employees who make the final
decisions. Letter writing and faxing is fine, but the Supervisors see
plenty of that. Hard core DATA and facts speak much louder than 50 letters,
despite what AKC tells us. Therefore, it is beneficial to know factual and
scientific data as opposed to media hyped numbers, stories and theories.
Correcting public misrepresentations immediately when they are publicized,
whether online or in print, is very important. The average person believes
much of what he/she sees/or hears. If we don't do this, the media
misrepresentations of the animal extremists control, and we lose!
Francis Keays
fbkeays@gmail.com (http://by105fd.bay105.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?mailto=1&msg=54E9CD5C-0AF3-4C21-9AF9-E3EE6F3E30B8&start=0&len=24103&src=&type=x&to=fbkeays@gmail.com&cc=&bcc=&subject=&body=&curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=a415efb5d09fcf49e054d0c90e1ea0176211c86046d55793 a0dbbfa5d12c7998)
Forward with permission
SACRAMENTO CITY COUNCIL DECLINES TO ADOPT "OVERPOPULATION" ORDINANCE BY
ANIMAL EXTREMISTS
C. Chan,Esq.
August 15, 2006
Animal extremists had worked for two years to push this ordinance which
called for intact pets to be registered at a fee of $150, whereas altered
pets were to be $30. Shelter director Pat Claerbout used unsubstantiated
data from both North Carolina and Washington in an attempt to convince the
City Council that this plan causes a drop in euthanasia. It did not work,
and the proposed ordinance goes back to the drawing board, where the
Council
will review it next year.
Many spoke out against the ordinance at the City Council hearings. This
included private citizens, breeders, veterinarians, and dog/cat owners. The
consistent theme of most speakers was the fact that responsible owners and
breeders would be bearing the brunt of the "pet tax", and that the intended
target of irresponsible owners/or breeders, would be missed simply because
they would not comply.
Two ACF members contacted Supervisor Vice Chair, Don Nottoli, and went over
some of the perceived problems with the data given by Animal Control prior
to the final hearing. It was Nottoli's position that if a law is not
enforced, it would serve little purpose. Given the fact that shelter
populations in California have been reduced by approximately 50%, with the
euthanasia rate dropping almost the same percentage, implementing an
ordinance which was allegedly based on the "overpopulation" statistics did
not seem to mesh well. Perhaps the Supervisors began to realize that the
animal extremists had used the Animal Control as a pawn, and turned over
data that was inaccurate and misleading.
The extremists behind the ordinance include the Animal Protection Institute
and the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights. In addition, Dawn
Capp of "CHAKO", the plaintiff organization suing the city of San
Francisco,
helped "craft" the Animal Control's proposed ordinance which failed to
pass.
Opponents had organized and assembled a collection of accurate data which
included the fact that Sacramento has shelters which actually "import" dogs
to be adopted. Additionally, much statistical data was given to the city
council which indicated that the alleged "overpopulation" numbers did not
add up, and that adoptable pets (especially dogs) are not easy to come by
these days, particularly pups. Opponents also polled the newspaper ads in
Sacramento, finding that up to 70% of the pet ads were from area codes
outside of Sacramento---this would mean that these owners would not be
subject to Sacramento jurisdiction for the $150 fee in any event.
Animal extremists have now embarked on a "Lobbying 101" course to further
educate their people. As the extremists are a very emotional group, they
try to maintain a semblance of reasonableness by following the
International
Society for Animal Rights' (ISAR) protocol, which advises them to garner
support from 'friendly' legislative allies.
Knowing this, opponents need to hone in on the lawmakers, city councils,
supervisors, and involved key governmental employees who make the final
decisions. Letter writing and faxing is fine, but the Supervisors see
plenty of that. Hard core DATA and facts speak much louder than 50 letters,
despite what AKC tells us. Therefore, it is beneficial to know factual and
scientific data as opposed to media hyped numbers, stories and theories.
Correcting public misrepresentations immediately when they are publicized,
whether online or in print, is very important. The average person believes
much of what he/she sees/or hears. If we don't do this, the media
misrepresentations of the animal extremists control, and we lose!
Francis Keays
fbkeays@gmail.com (http://by105fd.bay105.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?mailto=1&msg=54E9CD5C-0AF3-4C21-9AF9-E3EE6F3E30B8&start=0&len=24103&src=&type=x&to=fbkeays@gmail.com&cc=&bcc=&subject=&body=&curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=a415efb5d09fcf49e054d0c90e1ea0176211c86046d55793 a0dbbfa5d12c7998)