TailsInc.com

Photo credit: Bethan Hazell

In a move to save $23 million dollars in the California state budget, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed cuts to funds used to provide reimbursements to animal shelters for the costs of keeping strays/lost pets alive. Brown wants to repeal parts of the Hayden Law which require that the state pay for expenses like food, veterinary care, kitty litter and requires shelters hold lost and stray animals for six days instead of three.

Pet parents and animal welfare groups around the country are fighting the appeal, claiming it would lead to the senseless deaths of many animals beyond cats and dogs. The law currently requires that shelters hold rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, pot-bellied pigs, birds, lizards, snakes, tortoises and turtles for three days. If this law is repealed, those animals could be put down immediately.

The shelters affected by the legislation are the kill shelters – those operated by cities or counties that have to accept every animal. They keep animals until they are placed but don’t have to accept animals if they’re full. In 2010, over half of the dogs and cats that entered these city and county shelters were euthanized.

California’s legislative analyst claimed that a 2008 review shows that there is evidence that indicates that a pet in a facility for more than three days didn’t increase its chances for being, but Lost Angeles County supervisors disputed that finding. The county supervisors stated that in 2011, 1,100 pets were claimed after the third day, and cuts like this would have these pets euthanized before there’s an opportunity for them to be claimed by their families.

Animal advocacy groups including the Humane Society of the United States and the ASPCA have petitions circulating to block the measure and animal advocates have created a Facebook page called Sutter’s Friends (named after Gov. Brown’s dog, Sutter) to help raise awareness about this serious issue. TAILS urges any of our readers in California to please reach out to your government to help stop the cuts before thousands of animals are put to death.

Have you heard about this story? What are your thoughts on this type of legislation?