SACRAMENTO — What appeared to be a straightforward proposal by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine to neuter California's dogs and cats instead met massive opposition and may have spawned a potentially powerful lobby that now plans to play a significant role fighting for pet owners' rights nationwide.
When Levine surrendered last week and withdrew his bill from consideration for this year, it was in front of an overflow crowd of animal owners at the state Capitol, many of whom were wearing lapel stickers bearing the lettering "PetPAC."
The brainchild of Bill Hemby, a retired San Francisco cop who raises and shows Russian wolfhounds, PetPAC started from nothing three months ago and today has signed up 35,000 supporters. They helped raise more than $200,000 to defeat Levine's bill that would have required Californians to spay or neuter their pets or face stiff fines.
Tom Hogen-Esch, a political scientist at Cal State Northridge, said the Levine bill woke a sleeping giant.
"That type of legislation Americans find extremely intrusive, so it really sparked a backlash," Hogen-Esch said. "Pets, for a lot of people, are like a member of their family."
Hemby said his goal now is to build the membership to 1 million pet owners and animal lovers by next year's elections and to start a separate political action committee capable of contributing $300,000 to candidates supportive of pet owners' rights.
Levine is at the top of the list of those legislators who may be targeted for defeat by the group's political committee, sources said. Being forced out by term limits unless a ballot measure in February extends his possible tenure, Levine is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Sheila Kuehl next year.
There are 9 million dog and cat owners in California, and Hemby envisions his group becoming a national force for animal breeders, trainers and owners.
"When AB 1634 was introduced, I just knew that in order to impact that bill, we had to create a political action group," said Hemby, a veteran advocate in Sacramento for the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs.
"The pet owners realized that they had been sitting on the sidelines watching their rights erode and not doing anything about it."
Hemby, 69 and bearded, has a knack for political showmanship. When the Senate Local Government Committee took up the bill on Wednesday, Lassie, the canine film star, was sitting on the floor in the front row.
