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To breed or not to breed: Proposal divides groups
| Tuesday, Aug 15 2006 10:30 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Aug 15 2006 10:34 PM
Dog rescuers debated pet breeders Tuesday in the first skirmish of what promises to be a long animal war.
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Both sides say spaying and neutering dogs is the solution to dramatic animal overpopulation problems in Kern County.
But rescuers think Kern County should make it illegal to have a dog that isn't spayed or neutered without a breeding permit.
Other animal lovers, breeders and show dog owners want to keep breeding legal -- period.
Taxpayers for Responsible and Ethical Animal Treatment asked the Kern County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to create a low-cost spay-neuter program -- and then make the surgery mandatory for all dogs.
The law has reduced animal kill rates in other counties, group leaders said.
Animal control officers in Santa Cruz County told The Californian in 2004 that a similar law helped reduce euthanasia rates there to 35 percent.
Kern County Animal Control killed around 70 percent of the animals entering its shelter in 2005-2006.
Supervisors forwarded the proposal to an animal control committee for a deeper investigation.
Breeders said a voluntary, low-cost spay and neuter program is the solution and oppose a mandatory rule.
Rescuer Marilyn Stewart, speaking for TREAT, said animal overpopulation in Kern County causes severe suffering for abandoned and stray animals.
The only way to end overpopulation caused by backyard breeding and irresponsible ownership is to make it illegal for people to keep unaltered animals, TREAT members said.
"You cannot tell me there is not a need for mandatory spay-neuter," said rescuer and TREAT member Debra McCraw. "There is no excuse for the number of animals that come into (the county animal shelter)."
But other animal lovers disagree -- sharply.
Karen Anderson said the TREAT group is "well-meaning but misguided" and that there other cheaper options to a mandatory spay-neuter law.
She said it would be an imposition on people's rights to own animals.
"The heritage of this county has long been on private property rights," Anderson said. "Prove to us that we still live in a free society."
The proposed law would allow breeders to breed their dogs, McCraw said, but only if they register.
Anderson said the discussion and disagreement between the two groups is healthy -- both sides have passion,and that is what it is going to make a difference in the situation of animals in Kern County.
Supervisors were as split on the issue as the animal groups.
Ray Watson said enforcement is critical to change Kern County's animal overpopulation problem.
"Until we get to the root of the problem, the indiscriminate breeding of animals, were going to have the problem," he said. "Animal ownership is a privilege and a responsibility more than it is a right."
Supervisor Jon McQuiston said he's not sure government should be meddling in dog ownership.
"I believe I have a right to own a dog," he said. "I don't believe an animal control commission has a right to tell me whether I can have a dog."
In other action at Tuesday's supervisors meeting:
* The board set a final decision on exclusive operating areas for Kern County's private ambulance companies for Aug. 22.
* They denied a proposed agricultural trucking lot on Costajo Street south of Bakersfield.
* They approved a tract of 282 homes between Taft Highway and Curnow Road, east of Highway 99, over opposition from the neighborhood.