Hello Friends & Fellow Republicans:

I am a California Republican, and I support AB1634 - The California Healthy Pets Act.

The California Healthy Pets Act requires every pet owner to spay or neuter their pets by six months of age unless special licenses or exemptions for breeding and showing are purchased at a reasonable price. (Service and police dogs are exempted.)

Some of our Republican legislators have expressed concern about a spay/neuter law possibly infringing on our personal rights or citing another example of government growing larger – again. I don’t believe either to be the case – here is why:

Consider the following:

• AB1634 will be implemented via animal control programs that are already in place. Therefore AB1634 will not result in an increase in tax cost to Californians.

• If your pet is already spayed or neutered, this law does not affect you at all.

• As our communities begin to spay and neuter their pets more actively via AB1634, we can expect to see a dramatic decrease in tax cost as pet overpopulation diminishes, causing sheltering and related animal control costs go down.

• In Santa Cruz County, shelter populations dropped by 50% (!!) after a universal spay/neuter ordinance was adopted. As animal overpopulation decreased to a manageable level, so did the related cost!

• No one’s personal rights are infringed upon. Anyone can continue to breed or ‘show’ purebred pets just as they always have, as long as they obtain proper licensing and exemption permits to do so legally – with a greater sense of responsibility and consideration for our state’s shelters, communities and taxpayers.

• Please be aware that as a California taxpayer, you are shouldering the annual $250 million dollar tax cost to staff and operate animal shelters, which must then euthanize and dispose of 50% of the pets that enter our shelters every year.

Let’s face it - there will never be enough homes for all of these pets if we continue with the status quo. Yet California taxpayers must continue to expend large amounts of tax money toward a problem that we can prevent, simply by supporting AB1634 – The California Healthy Pets Act.

No matter which political side you’re on, if you are to be intellectually honest, then you must evaluate each legislative issue based upon its own merit and true benefit for our communities and our state.

Far from intruding on our personal rights, AB1634 empowers every Californian to be a part of the proven solution to end pet overpopulation and reduce a massive tax burden that is both unfair and preventable.

No matter what your politics are – ask yourself these questions:

• Do you think that our communities and shelters need relief from pet overpopulation?

• Do you think it’s fair for California taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for overwhelming pet overpopulation costs when we can bring the problem to a manageable level via a universal spay/neuter law?

• Do you think it’s OK for people to contribute to the problem of pet overpopulation by choosing to illegally breed and sell purebred pets - without ever obtaining breeding licenses, business licenses or paying taxes on their income?

Now consider the many problems that pet overpopulation causes our state:

• Overburdened, under funded animal shelters fighting against overwhelming pet overpopulation odds with no relief in sight.

• Unaltered, roaming dogs and cats that are far more likely to be aggressive, attacking and biting people and other pets if they are not spayed or neutered, or supervised by a responsible owner.

• Stunningly high tax costs to operate and staff animal shelter facilities throughout our state.

• The inability to attract and maintain veterinarians and staff in our shelters – due to the constant mental and emotional toll of euthanizing viable companion animals, simply because far too many are produced and too few homes are available for them.

As a Republican, I fully believe that The California Healthy Pets Act is right for our state.

I can support this bill because it will solve so many problems simultaneously - at no increase in cost to the tax payer – and will significantly lower our shelter related tax cost all at once.

I urge you to please visit the fantastic California Healthy Pets website: www.cahealthypets.com where you can read about the facts, benefits, statistics and concrete proof that AB1634 will give our taxpayers and our shelters the relief we deserve.

Fellow Republicans – your Republican legislators need to know that you support The California Healthy Pets Act spay/neuter law.

Please E-mail me your comments explaining why you support AB1634! And I will make sure that your legislators see them, so they know that you do care about reducing pet overpopulation and the related tax burden for our state.

We can do this – and it’s worth it!

Thank you,

S.L. Reeves

Your support of the bill will not be made public unless you ask, but I will request that you assist me and my Republican colleagues in lobbying our Legislators for AB 1634.

I might post your comments (unless you ask me not to), but won't put up your email address, name, etc. -S.L.