Governor of California to cut Shelter Holding Period in Half!

[FredsMom]

This was sent to me through my disc club.

Basically, in an effort to save money, the Governor of California (Ahnahld) is putting forth a cost-cutting plan to reduce shelter holding periods from 6 days to 3.

This is outrageous. Not only is three days not enough time for many pet owners to reclaim lost pets (what if the dog runs away while they are on vacation?) but it is no where near enough time to hold for the original owner and then evaluate the dog for adoption.

There are so many other things California can do to both reduce debt and to increase state income (Tom Aminiano's bill anyone? If passed, it is said it can bring a minimum of 1.6 billion dollars of pure income into the state).

Here is a link to the original article.


Pet lovers wage war on plan to cut shelter holding period (http://ocpets.freedomblogging.com/2009/06/09/pet-lovers-wage-war-on-plan-to-cut-shelter-holding-period/#comment-1357)

"If you’re interested in joining the battle cry, you can call the governor’s office at 916-445-2841 or leave him an e-mail him at EMAIL THE GOVERNOR (http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email)."

(here is the link spelled out: http://gov.ca.gov/interact#email )

[nanamouse]

Other things could be cut, but animals don't vote. :( Huh, Let my other half try to watch one of those stupid Terminator movies again.:mad:

[FredsMom]

Well the governator couldn't be bothered, to, perhaps, cut back on personal trips funded by the budget now could he? Nope, easier for him to kill of a few animals.

There are so many things that could be done in this state to not only reduce costs but increase income. There are multiple bills on the table right now that would increase state costs. Will half of them pass? No.

Voting on Prop 8 will cost California a lot of income, especially consumer revenue. I don't know what is happening with it but Tom Ammianos AB390 could bring billions of dollars of income into the state.

Schwartzanager is a big part of the reason the state is so heavy into debt, and now he's making thousands of innocent animals pay HIS price.

[happyday7]

That’s outrageous! :mad:
But at the same time Im not suprised. He cut wages or layoff state employees with no/small voice first. Now with shelter holding time??
He needs to get his priorities straight.
He should start cutting wages of legislatives.
That right there should save our state lot of money.
And why not tax movie makers more? They make millions and billion dollars.



This statistic really made me sad. :(

The number of unwanted dogs and cats euthanized at the Orange County animal shelter hit a five-year high in 2008, while adoptions declined.

There were 31,492 live dogs and cats taken in by the shelter last year - a 13 percent jump from 2007.
Of those, nearly half - 15,265 - were killed, up 31 percent.
Adoptions totaled 10,915, down 5 percent.

Something needs to be done.

[FredsMom]

That’s outrages! :mad:
But at the same time Im not suprised. He cut wages or layoff state employees with no/small voice first. Now with shelter holding time??
He needs to get his priorities straight.
He should start cutting wages of legislatives.
That right there should save our state lot of money.
And why not tax movie makers more? They make millions and billion dollars.



This statistic really made me sad. :(

The number of unwanted dogs and cats euthanized at the Orange County animal shelter hit a five-year high in 2008, while adoptions declined.

There were 31,492 live dogs and cats taken in by the shelter last year - a 13 percent jump from 2007.
Of those, nearly half - 15,265 - were killed, up 31 percent.
Adoptions totaled 10,915, down 5 percent.

Something needs to be done.


I forgot you were in the OC when I posted this Happy. Yea. its outrageous. That man has done more bad than good for this state. How he is still in office? I'll never know. How are you doing with that flippin .12 cent gas price increase! (To all those outside of Cali, while gas prices ARE going up across the nation, The governor decided to raise Californian's another 12 cents ON TOP of the increase. he has also doubled car registration from .6 percent of the value of your car to 1.15. Almost double. So someone who used to pay 150 a year on car registration is now doomed to pay 300 a year. Why we still have no money is beyond me).

[FredsMom]

I got this in response to my email. Is it wrong that I read it in the terminator voice.

gah, this horrible government

from governor@governor.ca.gov

date Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 3:00 PM
subject Re:Animal issues/concerns
mailed-by governor.ca.gov
hide details 3:00 PM (24 minutes ago)
Thank you for sharing your concerns with me about the proposal to lift restrictions on hold times at animal shelters. I value your input during these challenging economic times.

As you know, we are in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. We now face a budget shortfall that has grown to $24.3 billion. I have proposed cuts that I would have never proposed except in a worst-case scenario, including eliminating General Fund support for programs like Healthy Families, CalWORKs, Cal Grants and State Parks. This was not an easy decision for me. As a dog owner myself, I have always supported animal welfare and have worked to ensure the humane treatment of animals.

Currently, the state requires all shelters to hold stray animals for four or six days and reimburses them for the associated costs. To address our budget crisis, I have proposed to suspend some Non-Proposition 98 mandates, including the reimbursement funds for these shelters. To help local shelters deal with the challenges of this difficult budget situation, I have also proposed that the state no longer require the four or six day hold time. Shelters still have the flexibility to keep the animals for more days, but my proposal avoids placing an unnecessary burden on local communities.

As I work with my partners in the Legislature to find solutions to these problems, know that I will keep your thoughts in mind. Working together, I believe we can weather this storm and start the slow but steady march back toward prosperity.

Sincerely,


Arnold Schwarzenegger

[nanamouse]

Sounds like the responses I got from from my senator on various animal or battered women causes. Pretty phrases that boil down to "Why don't you let me run things and you just deal with it." GRRRRR

Well, maybe he WON'T be bock. ;) Sorry, I have as hard a time taking him seriousley as I did with Ronald Reagan. Both were too associated in my mind with the characters they played.

[FredsMom]

Sounds like the responses I got from from my senator on various animal or battered women causes. Pretty phrases that boil down to "Why don't you let me run things and you just deal with it." GRRRRR

Well, maybe he WON'T be bock. ;) Sorry, I have as hard a time taking him seriousley as I did with Ronald Reagan. Both were too associated in my mind with the characters they played.

Don't worry, I don't think anyone here takes him seriously. We never really refer to him as Governor Schwartziwhatsithoweveritsspelled. We just say AhNahld. Or that (starts with D and rhymes with swoosh).

You can just FEEL the condenscending tone in which he informed his secretary to inject in the note that he would dictate to his intern.

[Tigger11]

Unfortunately, the Governor never saw that letter. A staffer would have probably given it to an intern to write, and it is a template for all of the letters regarding the reduction of the holding period. In fact, I'm sure the first two sentences of the second paragraph are used as a template for every letter to constituents that addresses any new cut having to do with his plan to balance the budget. I worked in a congressional office before as an intern so writing letters to constituents was my job. The only thing we reported to the congressional member was basically statistics of how many letters on each issue and if they were for or against the bill. Fortunately, the congressional member I worked for really did vote according to the majority of his constituents, but I'm unsure if the Governor will listen. However, if a lot of people do write letters, it will be hard to ignore, even if he tends to not vote based upon his constituents' concerns.

[FredsMom]

I know Tigger. I used to work for public office. That was why I joked about the Gov telling his secretary to tell his intern.

Also why I posted on here. There are a handful of California Residents on this site. I am hoping they'll do what they can.

[Llamalady]

Just fyi I am not for euthanizing in shelters unless the animal is too sick to place, but this is what *I* wrote to the governator:

Dear Sir:

This letter is in concern of your idea to cut the time in half of holding animals in shelters.

Why even catch animals if you're only going to hold them 3 days in the animal shelter before you euthanize them? Why not just take guns and shoot them out in the streets?

What needs to be being done is money NEEDS to be invested not just here, but in every other state, to sterilize animals. They NEED to be neutered and spayed. Even if it comes to the point that people have to have licenses to breed, then that's fine. You are right in that the pet population MUST be controlled but it is impossible in 3 days to truly determine the suitability of a pet for homes - temperment testing. It is also impossible to truly be able to advertise animals FOR homes, unless we're going to start putting these animals on the front covers of every newspaper, and then that STILL probably won't work.

Don't you love animals and want them to have homes and the right to live? Perfectly healthy animals being slaughtered by the THOUSANDS every year? - this is insanity to me. If they were sick I would understand. If you want to make legislation that all cats are tested for FIV and feline leukemia, and that all dogs are tested for heart worms, and those positive for these diseases are euthanized, that will make room for a LOT of animals to have homes and more room in the shelters and eliminate countless suffering. If you were to REQUIRE that people spay/neuter their pets, there are still outlets in the other 49 states and many a country for them to find another animal. This will in no way eliminate their ability to acquire pets. There are ways around what you are considering!

Please reconsider this!!!!!!

Sincerely

Liz Black

[happyday7]

How are you doing with that flippin .12 cent gas price increase! (To all those outside of Cali, while gas prices ARE going up across the nation, The governor decided to raise Californian's another 12 cents ON TOP of the increase. he has also doubled car registration from .6 percent of the value of your car to 1.15. Almost double. So someone who used to pay 150 a year on car registration is now doomed to pay 300 a year. Why we still have no money is beyond me).

Thankfully I only work about 10 miles away from home. So I only pump gas maybe once every 2 weeks. :)