SACRAMENTO — A bill to require Californians to spay or neuter their pets or face stiff fines was pulled from consideration for this year by its author Wednesday after it ran into strong objections from members of a state Senate panel.
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) said he hopes to resurrect the idea in January.
Levine said he would consider amending the legislation, as suggested by a member of the Senate committee, to limit a proposed $500 fine to owners whose unaltered dogs and cats are picked up while running loose by animal control officers or are discovered at homes during investigations into other violations.
"I think we can get to a solution," Levine told the Senate Local Government Committee and an overflow crowd at a Capitol hearing room. "But the first thing opponents must do is to acknowledge that there is a problem and work with me to solve it."
Levine's legislation, AB 1634, had cleared the Assembly with no votes to spare June 6, but ran into opposition in the Senate after about 10,000 pet owners, breeders, guide-dog owners and police officers objected that it would infringe on their rights and use of animals.
A similar number of pet owners and animal control experts had lobbied for the bill, making it one of the most hotly contested pieces of state legislation this year.
About 20 people testified for or against the bill Wednesday.
Backers said the mandate for dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered at 6 months is justified because 454,000 unclaimed cats and dogs are put to death each year in California shelters at a cost of about $300 million.
Despite previous amendments to allow work dogs, show animals and breeder animals to obtain exemptions from being neutered, it became clear to Levine that the five-member committee was not prepared to vote it out to the full Senate.
Sen. Gloria Negrete-McLeod (D-Chino), the committee chairwoman, told Levine that her family has cared for stray dogs and cats for years and has always acted responsibly and had them spayed or neutered.
"I don't think I appreciate being charged with something that I already do naturally," she said.
Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach), another member of the panel, said his family has had hunting dogs for years, and that the proposal to require dogs to be spayed or neutered at 6 months would interfere with the breeding of hunting dogs that are often not selected until they are more than 18 months old.
