COM 0022.077 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Murashige, Laura From: kccc@i I hawaii. net Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 8:53 PM To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us Subject: Subject: Animal Legislation Council Members: As you consider the issue of licensing cats, it may be worth reviewing some "factual" information provided by the following POSITION STATEMENT of San Francisco's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals. This is a nationally recognized organization that stands in the forefront of the movement to protect animals from the cruelty (both intentional and unintentional)of we humans. Sometimes that cruelty is the unintentioned result of well intentioned legislators who are not actually experts in animal behavior but who believe they are intelligently dealing with a public "issue". Please review their analysis of cat licensing before proceeding down an uninformed or misinformed path related to this issue. Michael Galvin Cat and Dog Owner San Francisco SPCA Position Statement Cat Licensing: Analysis of Claims CLAIM: Cat Licensing will make cat owners mere responsible. Caring can't be mandated, and a licensing mandate will only end up punishing those who care. There are millions of compassionate people who provide abandoned cats with food, love, and shelter in their own homes. Others put aside their own needs in order to care for a beloved pet or make sure a shy and reclusive neighborhood cat has daily sustenance and medical attention. Still others work tirelessly to feed foster and rehabilitate feral cats and kittens, all at their own personal expense. For every one of these caregivers, mandatory cat licensing will exact a heavy toll. These people will either have to pay the license fees - or face citations, fines, penalties, and possible confiscation of the animals they love. These new burdens, inflicted on the very people who are doing the most to help cats in their communities, will force many to stop caring for these animals, or at least force them to care for fewer cats, with the net result being more cats left to tend for themselves and fewer people able to provide them with any kind of safety net at all. In response to these concerns, some cat licensing proponents have said that enforcement won't be stressed, or will only be "complaint driven." In our view, passing laws that aren't enforced or are enforced sporadically is just as unfair and counterproductive: Few people are likely to comply with a cat licensing mandate that isn't enforced. (In Los Angeles, for instance, compliance rates of less than 1 % were reported, in spite of a canvassing program.) And people who "voluntarily" comply can probably be counted among the most responsible (and affl~~ent} pet owners in the community. We see little equity or sense in enacting a law that only ends up penalizing through a licensing tax the very people whose behavior is already exemplary. Needless to say, truly irresponsible cat owners won't be affected. If the n law isn't enforced, they are free to ignore it. If it is enforced against Comm. No. them, they are likely to surrender or abandon their animals, which will Ref. To: t Rr~f. Fate