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June 25, 2004

Kill 'Em All

I've been doing my best to stay out of politics, but this news story really takes the cake:

The Schwarzenegger administration said repealing the Hayden Act could save local governments up to $14 million. As proposed, shelters would be allowed to kill dogs and cats after holding them just 72 hours, regardless of whether the shelters are open to the public during those three days.

...

Schwarzenegger has proposed a change in the law to allow birds, hamsters, potbellied pigs, rabbits, snakes, turtles and other animals that are not cats and dogs to be put to death immediately after capture if the shelter favors that approach, animal rights groups said. Currently, a minimum six-day window covers all animals, but the protections for everything but cats and dogs would be eliminated under the changes.

Schwarzenegger also would eliminate a requirement that people convicted of animal cruelty be prohibited from owning a pet for three years and be forced to pay for medical care for the animals they have mistreated.

Shelters no longer would be required to search for owners who have embedded microchips in their pets that store addresses and phone numbers.

This is not going to go over well. People put those microchips in so they can get their pets back. If the governor decides that shelters can just ignore the chips and kill or adopt out the animal, will he also change the rules about how to handle other kinds of "found" property? If I find a Hummer on the street outside the capitol, can I just take it, because clearly the owner doesn't care and doesn't want it?

There is one reassuring sign in the article:

There are signs that Schwarzenegger has a growing understanding of how volatile the issue of animal protection can be.

Um, yeah. No shit. People love their pets. They love them more than they love their kids (probably because the pets love them back more than their kids love them back).

Posted by ayse on 06/25/04 at 12:53 PM