Gov. Brown's plan on shelter law stirs backlash

[alp227]

Californians love their pets, so it's no surprise that Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to roll back major portions of a state law aimed at protecting stray and abandoned animals from death has sparked outrage.

The fury spread quickly last week after the animal rights group Dog Park Media posted a video of the law's author, former state Sen. Tom Hayden, asking Brown to reconsider the repeal of major provisions of SB1785. The law, passed in 1998, requires shelters to hold dogs and cats for four to six days before they can be killed; to post lost-and-found lists so owners can locate lost pets; and, if they are holding an animal for only four days, to stay open some evenings and weekends to allow owners an opportunity to pick up lost pets after business hours. It also extended protections to animals other than dogs and cats, such as rabbits.

All of those provisions would be repealed to cut spending by millions of dollars under Brown's plan. Shelters could euthanize an animal after just 72 hours, regardless of whether they had been open to the public during that time.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/29/BAF81MUUVE.DTL&ao=all

[montanacowboy]

1. What the hell is the matter with Jerry Brown?

get a clue Jerry

[xchrom]

2. +1

[cstanleytech]

5. I am going to go out on a limb and say it might be the problem with him is he cant find the money?

That is of course just a guess as to why, perhaps I'm wrong.

[SaintPete]

18. +1

Californians voted this man in to reign in the state deficit, and he's doing exactly what he was hire to do. Maybe this measure is a bit hasty, but overall he's grabbing the bull by the horns and doing well.

From the LA Times on 12/5/11:

Overall, “he receives more positive than negative job ratings from voters, with 47% approving and 36% disapproving,” the Field Poll reports. Brown’s numbers, while soft, are among the highest of any politician in the state.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/12/jerry-brown-field-poll-barack-obama-tax-plan-.html

And from the same day, up north:

Analysts say Brown inherited an intractable budget mess in Sacramento, a bleak economic climate and a Republican minority in the state Legislature that is steadfastly opposed to any tax increases.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/05/MNE61M8996.DTL#ixzz1kyZcxZYe

Wow. Sound familiar? I think our President had similar challenges, eh?

Brown inherited a 25 Billion dollar deficit, and has cut that down to 12 billion...and he's still going. If California's redistricting gives Dems the 2/3 majority in their state Senate-which they need to increase taxes-then Brown might be able to close the door on the deficit, and undue the damages that Arnold and the Republicans brought to Sacramento.

If he's successful, he go down in history as one of California's most effective Governors...even if he did step on some toes along the way.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

24. No matter what he does, he'll get the full weight of the GOP down on him. CA is screwed until ....

we finally acknowledge we need to raise taxes if we want to solve big problems.

[SaintPete]

25. Agreed, but Brown needs that 2/3rd majority

which has been out of reach. The redistricting could resolve that, don'tcha think?

[Peace Patriot]

32. Ten billion of California's budget surplus was ripped off by Enron alone...

...in one of the biggest heists in history, and then the Terminator got in there--in California's weirdest election, and the first big Diebold election in California (the "recall&quot --to keep a lid on that Bushwhack economic disaster.

This is what BURNS ME UP about our party leaders. They bend over for ten billion dollar heists then inflict the pain on you and me and NEVER ONCE question the results of obviously, blatantly rigged, corporate-run, 'TRADE SECRET' code (s)elections!

They also colluded in (CA Sec of State) Kevin Shelley's demise. He was onto Diebold.

We can all take pain, collectively, when necessary. But UNNECESSARY pain like this--loss of our school system, loss of our best humanitarian projects, loss of everything good about our society, to huge financial crimes that get shunted into the Corporate News "river of forgetfulness"--is outrageous. There. Is. No. "Budget Deficit." In. The. U.S. or. in. California. What there is is CORPORATE THEFT.

[truedelphi]

33. Someone here on DU explained to me tht the reason that

Diane Feinstein hand picked Bustamante to run for governor against Ahnold was that he was spending some of his time going after the Enron money. And I guess that Di Fi wanted him busy with the governor campaign so he couldn't make headway on the Enron project.

I totally agree with you about the Corporate Theft and also how our "media" goes and "forgets" about it. We really need a separate arm of the Occupy movement to focus on occupying the f___ers at the TV stations, who give us about 90 seconds of major news stories (Facts relating to wars we need to commit our troops and money to, or the State of THe Union Address by the President, and yet has five minute spiels on restaurants that are "new and exciting."

Anyway I wish I could recommend your entire post. First rate.

[cstanleytech]

34. If the Occupy movement really wants to make a difference then they

really need to get people into varies elected (both federal and state) government in this upcoming election because thats really the only place where things can be changed in the end as their the ones that pass the laws, levee the taxes and in the end make the final decisions.

[truedelphi]

38. Do you understand the election process?

People in our country have only woken up in the last six months to realize the truth about what is happening.

You cannot even get people on the election ballots in the state of California at this point in the game.

Want to change the DLC and DI FI style of governing in this state? Well, it takes about two years of buddying up to a buddy of Diane's in order to even get the Democratic Party to agree to let you run.

And in the end, the PTB in terms of DLC Demcoratic Party control probably aren't going to like you that much. So then, after your two years of effort, you have to change the entire outlook of your campaign and decide which of the third parties wants you as a candidate. Then if you do run, will you get enough money to exist as a viable candidate?

Perhaps the only way out of this is to go back in a Time Machine and tell young John Kennedy Jr not to fly to the family bash that fateful July Friday night.

If John hadn't died, we would have a chance to make sure that the old style, FDR style of Democrats were in high enough places for the nation to have a chance.

[cstanleytech]

39. Thats pretty pessimistic and believe me coming from me thats not

a good thing because I usually consider myself atleast one of the princes of pessimism.
I mean come on, sure its not easy but giving up without even trying isnt going to get us anywhere at all and will only make things worse.

[truedelphi]

40. Again we are living inside of a kafka-esque nightmare.

The Republican Senator from Kentucky gets groped for two hours by TSA agents. He speaks out against this group, as being an undemocratic entity, and the Corporate-paid Hack Limbaugh is now teaching people that Rand Paul deserves the TSA procedures as Rand Paul is a terrorist. What The F___??

This is crazy. The NDAA bill was crazy and having just said these things, Now I suppose, I too am a terrorist.

Oh and we have will nilly "No One Knows Which Party He Actually Belongs to" Lieberman stating that the NDAA is a good thing, and he hopes it scares Americans...

Many of us understand that the Two Party System is all One Big Money Party. (Which is why it is almost impossible for any middle class person who understands how broken our nation is to get the backing of either party.) By the way, that statement regarding One Big Money Party is the quintessentiel definition of Fascism. And that the One Big Party System is now edging our laws to bring us Full Blown Nazi style into the New World Order - they will march us dissenters into camps - and of course, people like you can state, Oh nonsense. But is it?

Recently the head of radiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital explained that the scanning equipment exposes people to a dangerous level of radiation. Yet the Associated Press used this person's name and made up a quote about how safe the scanning equipment is, and that Johns Hopkins thinks it is safe. We have no free press, we have no real representation of the middle class, average citizen in our elections, and we are totally being backed into a wall. People like myself, born in the 1950's, (And people born earlier) know this seems familiar. It is the nightmare that unfolded in Germany in the early 1930's. And though we won't have goose stepping soldiers in our midst, it won't be needed - we will have the local police taking us away.

[LanternWaste]

36. I imagine it's rather a decision on his part...

I imagine it's rather a decision on his part to de-allocate existing monies that already exist.

[cstanleytech]

37. "de-allocate existing monies that already exist." ?

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. And all the more backlash to him.

[xxqqqzme]

4. I really hope he doesn't run for a second

term. I don't think I could stand another rethug after steroid boy's disastrous reign.

[aquamarina]

6. I think Schwarzenegger also tried this

and the backlash was just as fierce. You just can't mess with peoples pets.

[EFerrari]

19. Yes, he did. nt

[CountAllVotes]

7. geez Jerry

Give it a break would you? I know you are "thrifty" and all, but MY GOD.

If this law was in place already, I wouldn't have my baby Jewels, by beloved kitty that I got at the local Auschwitz. She was sick and had been there for about a week.

Had I not adopted her when I did, she'd have been rid of by the time I had gotten there!

[truedelphi]

13. Lucky Jewels (And you too.)

Glad there was a good outcome for the two of you.

[CountAllVotes]

26. She's a very happy little cat! :)

Lucky is me!

[alp227]

29. Auschwitz?

[CountAllVotes]

31. yes, the ovens ...

They have those at animal "shelters" or what the hell ever you care to call them. Most animals that go there rarely get out, hence the likeness to "Auschwitz".

She's five years old now and doing very well and is anything but scrawny!

[justabob]

8. wow... wtf?

What an asshole. 72 hours regardless of whether they had been open to the public? Fuck him.

[Auggie]

9. Make it an issue for the State Assembly and Senate too, folks.

We wouldn't be discussing this if corporations and the 1% paid their fair share of state taxes.

[truedelphi]

14. Ba-zinga!

Yep there is no excuse for the free pass that the Major Corporations and the richest of the rich got, from both Prop Thirteen (RE taxes) and also just income taxes in general.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

10. Do the rich in Calif. still have their huge yacht tax break?

The one that got them out of paying normal taxes for multi million dollar yachts.
There lots of that type in Calif.

[saras]

11. Can we euthanize politicians if they don't do anything useful in 72 hours?

I couldn't get through one single completely non-productive work day without losing my job. Why should they?

[truedelphi]

15. My laugh of the day...

Many politicians get through decdes of life without having to do anything productive. Other than taking orders from those who are behind their elections, and rubbing elbows with the rich.

[itsrobert]

12. California does not have an endless supply of money

You have to make sacrifices somewhere. If there is outrage, why don't people take the outrage and organize fund raising to help these animals?

Where do you want the cuts to be?

We have to make hard choices in this world.

Good job, Jerry!

[roody]

27. Mandate spay and neuter if you want to solve

the problem.

[itsrobert]

28. That's one solution

I think the problem with homeless pets, is their owners have lost their homes, jobs, etc and can no longer take care of them. So, you either put money in the animal shelter or you help people with job/home so they can take care of their pets.

[roody]

30. Many homeless pets have no owners

looking for them. My dog was in the pound for 6 months before I adopted him. He deserves to live. I have helped get adopted a dog who was in one year. He was innocent and did not deserve to die.

[truedelphi]

16. Here's a thought, Jerry Brown -

Got to Washington and stay there (OCCUPY!) until the state gets its money back.

For years California has been the number one destination for people from all over the world who come to live and work in the USA.

There is a law on the books, rarely even mentioned, that ensures that any state taking in high volumes of people receives a certain percentage of funds spent on the newly arrived immigrants' account. Even way back in the 1980's, there was close to thirty billions of dollars owed to California.

Go and get our damn money. You are a Democrat; Obama is a Dmeocrat - it shouldn't be ard to do.

Those bilions when returned to the stae, could actually allow us to have outr teachers, social workers, project managers, fire fighters, police etc returned to the work force. And employing them would mean that the local diner woud be re-vitalized, as would th elocal auto mechanic, travel agencies, et al.

So get on the bus, Gus. Hop on the plane, Lane. Get some cash for our town, Brown, and keep California working the way it was intended to do.

[FarCenter]

17. The state should require shelters to read the chips and post the pets on line

That way the owners could notify the shelters that they want the pet back and the shelter could hold it for them.

That would be more effective than requireing the shelters to hold the pets extra days.

In any case, the state should not be funding shelters, given its budget problems.

[EFerrari]

20. Baloney. We need the state to do exactly things like fund animal shelters.

And not only does Brown need to keep the current level of funding, he needs to find a way to increase it because it's too low right now.

[Auggie]

22. Exactly. And don't forget, WE are the state.

[SheilaT]

21. I just hope that every single person who is so outraged at this

immediately donates time AND money to his or her nearest animal shelter.

Most people haven't a clue about the realities of how shelters operate, and how woefully underfunded they are. And, most of all, how very many stray, abandoned, neglected, unwanted animals there are out there.

People who don't neuter their pets. People who let their pets run free, untagged, unchipped.

Yes, there are good pet owners out there who do everything right and still their animals somehow get free. But those are a minority compared to the willful neglect of so many animals.


A decade or more ago I was going volunteer work at my local animal shelter, and they had a flyer explaining just how huge the cat and dog overpopulation actually is. I forget the exact numbers, but each and every family in this country would have to have something like four dogs and seven cats (or maybe three cats and eight dogs -- the exact numbers aren't important, just how very large they are) to immediately provide every shelter cat and dog out there with a home.

The reality is that there are huge numbers of cats and dogs out there who will never find a loving home, and the problem grows each year. And for those who praise no-kill shelters, keep in mind that most of those simply farm out their killing. Remember, a lot of cats and dogs in each and every household would only put a temporary stop to the overpopulation problem.

[LynneSin]

23. I also have to add that pet owners should be responsible and get their pets microchipped

My cats refuse to wear collars. They are both totally indoor cats and luckily they won't go near an open door (they both lived on the streets when they were young so my guess they don't want to go back there).

Since they won't wear collars, I had both of my pets microchipped.

Jerry Brown is between a rock and a hard place. So I can understand why he is doing this but I wish he wouldn't.

Perhaps once he gets the deficit wiped out and California is back in the black again he can revist this so the rules can be reinstated. California needs to find a source of income again!

[cstanleytech]

35. Ya know I might just have a solution.....emphasis on "might" so need to shout at me

if you dont agree but anyway what about getting the students involved?
By that I mean setup a program where high schoolers are offered the opportunity to earn credits if they volunteer at the varies shelters for a few hours a week? It wouldnt really cost the government much if anything moneywise and it might provide the manpower to enable the animal shelters to stay open longer.