California Caucus Protects Sporting Dog Owners and Breeders

September 1, 2010 (Sacramento, CA) - The California Legislative Outdoor Sporting Caucus recently defeated SB 250, legislation to increase fees and penalties on sporting dog owners and breeders, on the last day of the 2010 legislative session.

The bill, which would have also encouraged local governments to impose even more rigid restrictions or bans on dog breeding, was introduced in August after  failing to pass in 2009. SB 250 would have: (1) prohibited anyone from owning an unaltered or unspayed dog without first purchasing a costly unaltered dog license; (2) required the owner of an unaltered dog for sale to meet certain requirements; and (3) required the spaying/neutering of a dog if it is impounded or if its owner is cited for various other violations.

“This burdensome legislation would have effectively decreased the supply of dogs used for hunting, field trials and other sporting purposes, while wrongly increasing costs on dog breeders and owners,” said Mark Hennelly, Vice President of the California Outdoor Heritage Alliance (COHA).  “COHA was pleased to work with California Legislative Outdoor Sporting Caucus members, as well as our other sporting partners, to finally defeat SB 250.”

While SB 250 would have exempted owners of hunting dogs with a valid hunting license from the bill’s requirements, COHA still urged legislators to oppose it due to a provision which allowed local governments to adopt more stringent spay/neuter regulations. Local governments could have still required a hunting dog to be spayed/neutered or its owner to purchase an unaltered license.

"We are extremely pleased that SB 250 has been rejected by the California Assembly. Mandatory spay/neuter would not only hurt responsible dog breeders and owners, it is also extremely ineffective in addressing animal control issues," said Sheila Goffe, Director of Government Relations for the American Kennel Club. "The failure of this measure is a “win” for responsible dog owners and the people of the state of California."