and I will probably be sitting on the same side of the fence of a few other folks that think like I do.
First, the state or goverment in general can not legislate common sense or ethics. There is no governing body or agency that can handle such an undertaking. As Americans we do have specific rights to property and business and have such freedoms we can pursue and have earned. I personally do not wish to give that up. I also beleive we need to remove the "emotion" from this topic to clearly see what issues need to be addressed. Please excuse my sarcasm in my post.
It is my opinion in today's society that we assign more value to an animal(dogs, cats etc) than we do our elderly, disabled and mentally ill population. People of these groups are often treated worse than some of the strays or mill dogs we see today. I see it all the time where I work. Because of under funding, high managed care cost and rules so strict that no one can operate the individual suffers. Walk into a skilled nursing home, mental health facilty or rehab center and see the abuse. It happens every single stinking minute. One must change the value system and get rid of ridiculous regulations in order to have improvements. Perhaps if we value humans better and set a tone of better ethics for each other, we will reduce the abuse of our animals. Society in whole can affect change.
That being said, look closely at the text of the bill. "Assuming" that the premise of this bill is to protect the animals(in this case dogs) I think it sadly lacks the criteria to do so. The bill does require ANY owner to pay $300 for each intact female over the age of 6 months. If you have 4 females of various ages at home(many of us show breeders at one time or another have had more than that), that would total $1200 for the "intact permit". Please explain to me how this permit prevents the mistreatment of any animal? It doesn't.
Mandatory spay/neuter? Nope doesn't prevent mistreatment. The same asshole who ties their dog in the back yard, kicks him when he barks or shits on his carpet and let's him loose to run the neighborhood, won't be stopped by a surgical alteration, intact permit or inspection. Should we spay or neuter animals coming in as strays? Sure if that is what the facility decides. Have the adoptee pay for the alteration and stop the breeding cycle of these types of animals. Reduce the adoption fees so they can find good homes. Even then you will never know if you placed an animal in a good home.
Inspections? Hmmmmm I think any breeder or owner has once come home to a crate full of crap because Sparky had the runs and played tap dance in it! Can you imagine if you open yourself up to an inspection at that moment? My goodness they would cry foul!! Abuse!! The tickets and fines would be piling up! LOL....Little do they know Sparky ate some greasy bacon as a treat for dinner and it gave him the runs while you were at the grocery store. Good lord if they caught you with a dog that had seasonal alopecia, cherry eyes and IDC's!! Abuse I tell Ya! The standards of care and the Animal Welfare Act are already out there and also listed with the Department of Agriculture. Commercial breeders and big kennels already have standards and inspections that they are required to follow. As with any business these standards are broken by a few, NOT the majority of people out there. They are the ones who should be fined and penalized. Enforce what is already written.
In the State of Texas like many others, animals are considered property in most litigations and contract disputes. They do not assign value to emotion to the "property" in discussion. The courts deal with the contract and its wording when making rulings on the case. Unless the contract provides a guarantee of very specific health issues, little can be made of "lemon laws for live breathing animals". A car is much different. We know how a car operates. That would lead me into a whole other topic of "health and genetics" with dogs. LOL...not tonight.
I about died laughing when I saw the part about criminal background checks to be done in order to obtain a license. Ok...ummm did Vick have a criminal record before breeding and abusing all the dogs? I can't imagine that the folks in Amish territory( and I am addressing the mill breeders not the community as a whole) have criminal backgrounds to worry about? Or how about the senile old grandma who collects the kitties in her trailer and sells them to supplement her social security until animal control shows up because it stinks? Does everyone have to be penalized because of the actions of a few? Must we give up our rights to our property or make it so expensive to keep them and can no longer provide a standard of care which is ethical?
This type of goverment intervention has made living today so very costly and why we are seeing these effects now. Heck they still pay farmers to stop growing crops on fields so they can control the market on commodity items. Imagine how much lower our food costs and fuel would be if we let them have free enterprise and create the abundance of supplies, so all may benefit. LOL..the car makers, banks and mortage companies got greedy and look where they are now and darn if we aren't all going to pay for it too! We are "ruling and regulating" ourselves into a standstill. Before we know it, oxygen will cost more, you will be fined because you breathed in too much,you must have a permit for using your nostrils and darn if you didn't affect global warming just now!
Lol...Patti you caught me on a good night for agreat debate. I am wondering if there are others who think the same?
Just sharing my opinion...
susan
