Loading ...Annie Burris of the The Orange County Register reported today that Huntington Beach’s City Council voted to implement a mandatory pet program which includes spaying, neutering and requires the insertion of microchips in all dogs and cats residing within the city. HB is the first city in California to mandate micro-chipping of pets and it has many wondering if the government has reached too far and whether their city or county will adopt a similar program in the future.
There is currently a mandatory spay/neuter bill moving the state assembly. If passed, AB 1634, California Healthy Pets Act, would require that dog and cat owners have pets older than six months spayed or neutered. Visit the “official site” to see the lengthy list of supporters. There are also numerous opponents of the bill as well. See an article written by Christina Macon-Greene of The Village News which outlines some of the issues raised by those on both sides of the issue.
The two most widely recognized microchips used are AVID® and HomeAgain™. All microchips used within the United States for the purposes of tracking pets, operate by sending and receiving radio wave signals at 125 kHz. Shelters and animal rescue operations have a universal scanner that reads all brands of microchips transmitting at this frequency. The cost of implanting a chip is between $20-$40. Spaying and neutering fees vary significantly but are generally from $50 - $100.
Like Huntington Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita also contracts HCA Animal Care Services, a division of Orange County Health Care Agency, to provide temporary shelter and medical care to “lost” pets. RSM does not maintain it’s own shelter. A list of shelters is provided at the OC Humane Society website.
I have a call into Doug Fraijo, Code Enforcement Officer for Rancho Santa Margarita to see there has been any discussion by Rancho Santa Margarita politicians or government officials on the subject of mandatory spaying, neutering and “chipping”. I’ll post his response as soon as it comes in.
In the meanwhile, what are your thoughts on AB 1634 or Huntington Beach’s decision to mandate the spaying, neutering and micro-chipping of pets?
Amendment to original post: The issue for Huntington Beach City Council’s vote was not to ‘implement’ a mandatory pet program as stated above, but to ‘draft an ordinance’ for a mandatory pet program. For more information you may wish to read Ashley Power’s (LA Times Staff Writer) article. Additionally, AB 1634 has been shelved for additional amendments and will be reintroduced in January, 2008.
UPDATE: On September 6th I spoke with Doug Fraijo regarding the issues of mandatory spaying, neutering and micro-chipping. Mr. Fraijo indicated that he deals directly with the County and Animal Care Services and he is unaware of any problems with pet overpopulation in RSM at this time. “It doesn’t appear to be an issue (for Rancho Santa Margarita) at this time,” Mr. Fraijo stated. “The only problems I’m aware of are related to barking dogs.”
ADDITION: Additional post that may merit reading:
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8 responses so far ↓
1 Love RSM // Sep 5, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Hi Kelly, I think the Huntington Beach program is awesome and I will be pushing for a similar program in RSM. The pet overpopulation problem in California is ridiculous, we are killing way too many healthy animals. Asking that family pets be fixed is not a big deal but will make a big difference. Yay HB!
2 Dana Johnson // Sep 5, 2007 at 10:19 pm
Please research this issue further. The newspaper article was in error. Huntington Beach DID NOT pass a mandatory spay/neuter/microchip ordinance. They voted to DRAFT an ordinance. There is much study to be done about how to not infringe on a pet owner’s rights to manage the health care of their beloved pet. Most euthanasias in shelters are feral cats, and many if not most of the dogs are euthanized because of aggression, severe injury, owner request. Shelter population is made up of pets relinquished because of behavior issues (owners were not responsible in training their pets), owners moving, owners deployed overseas, owners dying, or strays (owners not properly securing their pets. MSN is not going to stop the flow of animals to the shelters. Irresponsible people will still obtain pets from the internet or smugglers, tire of them, dump them at the shelter and go get another one. MSN is not the fix-all it is cracked up to be. Furthermore, I don’t need the government forcing me to insert a foreign object into my pet. Chips do migrate, not all chips can be read with all scanners, and there is some evidence of cancers erupting in the area of the chip. My dogs are tattooed - at least offer the owner the option of tattoos or chips for permanent ID.
3 Kelly Kilpatrick // Sep 5, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Love RSM: Thank you for your input. I’m looking forward to hearing where people stand on this subject.
Dana: I stand corrected. Thank you for clarifying that Huntington Beach’s city council voted to draft an ordinance and that there is no ordinance in place yet. I agree with you that further study is needed for many reasons. The thing I have the most difficulty with is giving the government any more rights. Individual freedoms seem to be dwindling while the government keeps winding up with more and more say-so. I find myself reluctant to give up any rights at all - even for well-intentioned plans.
4 Ines // Sep 6, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Kelly - wow! that’s an ordinance! I know here in South Florida, all pets from the Humane Society will be tattoed and neutered/spayed - but requiring all pet owners to N/S and Chip is a little drastic.
I can tell you that the best dog I ever had was from a poodle and Cocker Spaniel my parents had that mixed (not purposely) and I ended up with the best pet I have ever had.
It will be interesting to see what happens with that ordinance.
5 Jan // Sep 6, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Hi Kelly:
I see someone hads already made the correction.. this is just a DRAFT and hopefully it will stay that way. Forcing a pet owner to have a surgical proceedure that can and does risk the life of thier pet in wrong. a surgical proceedure is NOT the same as wearing a sealt belt or a helmet as the Animal Rights “people” woul have you believe. This is a choice that should be made between the owner and the veterinarian. NOT by the government. Don’t we already have enough of that. Do you want to have another disclosure to present to you clients that states “Be Aware. If you buy a home in this community you will be forced to spay or neuter your pet, unless you meet certain criteria mandated by the local government”.. I don’t.. we have enough disclosures already!!!
No on Mandatory Castration…(did you know that castration is the proper term for both male and female sterilzation)
Education not Legislation
6 Jan // Sep 6, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Loves RSM.. by the way.. they are not “asking’ you .. they are TELLING you
7 Are You Guys Ready For Your National ID Cards? - Page 4 - BibleForums Christian Message Board and Forums // Sep 8, 2007 at 7:29 am
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