I've written about this topic before, but with California close to running out of cash as it nears a deadline for a state budget, it bears repeating.
If you haven't heard, one way Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger intends to reduce the state's $24-billion deficit is to cut funding to city and county animal shelters. Part of this funding is used to support California's "animal adoption mandate," which keeps shelter animals alive no fewer than six days. The window allows owners time to relocate their lost pets and gives rescue groups a chance to claim unwanted or unclaimed pets so they can find new homes for them.
But Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposal would suspend the mandate - along with other services and programs - and trim the minimum holding period to just three days.
If you've lost a dog or cat, you know how important it is to continually check with your local shelter to see if your pet has been found. If the waiting period is reduced from six days to three, it's likely that many pets will be euthanized before they can be found, adopted or taken in by rescue groups.
What can you do? The ASPCA recommends that you call your state senator or assemblyman and urge them to oppose Schwarzenegger's plan to suspend the animal adoption mandate. Their site makes it easy to find your legislators' phone numbers.
If you live in California and have been thinking about adopting a pet, do it now. If you can't, make a short phone call. It could help save many pets' lives.
If you live in California, you know all about the state's massive budget problems. State workers' salaries are being cut, social services are being pared back and various programs are feeling the pinch of a $24.3-billion deficit.
But now it looks like animal shelters - and the animals who are kept there in hopes of finding new owners - will also feel the brunt of California's fiscal woes.
Among the cuts proposed last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is one that would end a state mandate to hold animal shelter strays for six days. Kiska Icard, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco SPCA, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the change - which is expected to save the state $24.6 million - would result in euthanizing more animals.
"Obviously, monies need to come from somewhere," she said, "but to do it on the backs of these animals is just really sad."
I've heard that shelters may euthanize animals after just three days. If that happens, it would be a major tragedy for thousands of dogs, cats and other lost or abandoned pets.
If you live in California and are thinking about adopting an animal from a shelter, now is the time. You could literally save the life of a cat or dog.
