After a six month grace period, the new Spay and Neuter Law goes into effect in the city of Los Angeles today. It requires most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are 4 months old. First-time offenders will receive information on subsidized sterilization services and be given an additional 60 days to sterilize their pets. If they still fail to comply after 60 days, they could be fined $100 and ordered to serve eight hours of community service. A subsequent offense could result in a maximum fine of $500 fine or 40 hours of community service. Though if it gets to that point, I think it should be mandatory sterilization for both pet and owner.
The biggest obstacle that I’ve heard about the new law is that it’s going to be difficult to enforce. Los Angeles Animal Services head honcho Ed Boks estimates that it will cost over $400,000 to implement the ordinance and on an already tight budget, LAAS is going to rely on “voluntary compliance” instead of actively go after violators. Coming from the same city that proposed adding more street cleaning as a revenue stream so they can catch more parking violators, they should use the same thinking with this new law. Just hire a few extra ATC officers, send them out there with a quota, and make sure they bring in double their salary in fines. Problem solved. Take that Villaraigosa.
On a related note, the owner of Neuticals just started shopping for a new Porsche.
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pork chop
Funny isn’t it.. Lloyd Levine who pushed this bill in the House and was soundly defeated in the Senate said the WHOLE state would not spend more than $50,000.. IN TOTAL.. who’s zooming who?…Notice that if you do not comply even at the very end.. you are fined.. .. then what?? is your pet taken from you for “rehoming” or death by injection?? Your property seized,, yes Virginia, pets ARE property, or what? Do you just keep paying.. what is the “ulimtate penalty” for not having your pet undergo major surgery? Most of you here will be quick to support laws against ear cropping or tail docking.. neither of which is as major as ripping out a pets reproductive system. But have no problem with a major operation on a juvenile pet who is not even fully mature. Tell you what… when you neuter your male child at 4 years old.. or perform a hysterectmy on your daughter at the same age so that the “community” will be better off and no child will suffer then you can speak to others.. but not until.. This law should be repealed and an EDUCATIONAL program put inot place..strange isn’t it that all of the MONEY comes out of the woodwork when the law is in place.. but never before.. 13 MILLION.. to prove a point.. where was that money last year?.. the year before? and the year before that..
Oh and by the way..your “solution” of hiring more officers to “bring in double their salaries” reminds me of the Mafia.. hitmen put the squeeze on people and kept a percentage of the money as their “share’. the more they squeezed the more money they kept.. so what if the people lived in fear and someitmes died… Nice….
Oh and by the way.. surgery is not done with a large pair of scisssors.. YET…
Oct 02, 2008 @ 8:57 am
pork chop
http://www.thepetcenter.com/sur/sp.html
Here is a site that shows a spay surgery… This site recommends spaying and castrating as do most people and in reality most people DO already have their pets “fixed’.. Stats show that over 80 percent of dogs are ALREADY s/c in California but some people will not be happy until ALL pets are unable to reproduce..
PLEASE NOTE.. while this site promotes spaying it does say a spay is a MAJOR SURGERY and should be done only with the advice and care of a vet.. not the government. Last time I looked Tony V. and Boks didn’t have DVM after their names….neither does Bob Barker…this law will be in court before you know it.. and struck down.. wait unitl someones pet dies from the MAJOR surgery.. or a pet is seized and killed due to non compliance…
Please note that if you are having any surgical proceedures done on your pet.. YOU AND THE VET should be making the decisions..and that is should be the ONLY vested parties….
Oct 02, 2008 @ 9:17 am
Sacramento Mom
I have to agree with pork chop. Governments mandating invasive, dangerous medical procedures for EVERY CAT AND DOG is the same as practicing veterinary medicine without a license. And if enforcement of this new law will cost L.A. more than $400,000., how much would mandatory spay/neuter for the entire state have cost its’ citizens? ALL that money comes out of the pockets of the taxpayers. Education is a far better, cheaper, more effective option than forcing people to do things they don’t want to do. So is the proven Avanzino / Winograd no-kill solution for getting animals out of animal shelters alive (not Boks’ version) – read Winograd’s book ‘Redemption’ for the how-to’s.
Anyone else ever hear the saying, you’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar?
Think. Which is more harmful to an animal: removing dewclaws, docking a tail – or ripping out reproductive organs?
Oct 02, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
Sacramento Mom
Almost forgot – re: the owner/inventor of Neuticles: ROFL!! Great comment, Kevin.
Oct 02, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
LMAO, no really
just add some more officers, huh? that’s your grand idea. do the math, no matter how many tickets you write, it won’t cover costs or even a fraction of the households in the area.
do you really think ppl are just going to open their doors to an AC officer and answer YES to a self incriminating question?
the US Constitution protects citizens from self incrimination- its as easy as refusing to answer the question!
can you see LA judges signing search warrants for testicles and ovaries and ownership records of tens of thousands of households in the city? even if they were willing to participate is such a ridiculous endeavor, consider the amount of court hours necessary to chase intact reproductive organs into the ground! much higher expenses than could ever be recouped through the fines.
is an AC officer is on my doorstep, they won’t be getting an answer. of any kind. if they climb my fences or enter my property without a warrant to write a ticket, I’ll seek damages for trespassing and violations of my civil rights for unlawful search and seizure.
this new law is already expensive a single citation hasn’t even been written yet! clinic doors are still closed. the people who need help the most still won’t get it, and your lovely idea of canvassers certainly aren’t going to wander around on foot, unarmed no less, in the meanest neighborhoods where the worst offenders dwell.
Oct 02, 2008 @ 1:33 pm
LMAO, no really
oh and I almost forgot…..PETA been a big push behind this bill. they say we have no right to explaoit animals, to change them in any way from the form God gave them, that they should be free to live as they will without interference.
isn’t forcing them into invasive surgery INTERFERING?
so you think wild cats and dogs will line up of their own accord to be spayed and neutered? shouldn’t shelters just close their doors and leave these poor animals be free??????
the hpocrisy of it all kills me.
Oct 02, 2008 @ 1:35 pm