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Save Hayden's Law
- The following is only a partial list of the Hayden's Law provisions Brown plans to repeal. I wrote him, "I am against rolling back the non-human animal protections for which so many have worked so hard. Please oppose the repeal of Hayden's Law, a repeal that would condemn many wanted cats, dogs, et al., to death and their human friends to heartbreak. Instead save money by repealing the death penalty and sending home everyone imprisoned for victimless crimes"
- For dogs, cats, and other specified animals held for four business days after the day of impoundment, either: (a) Making the animal available for owner redemption on one weekday evening until at least 7:00 p.m., or one weekend day; or (b) For those local agencies with fewer than three full-time employees or that are not open during all regular weekday business hours, establishing a procedure to enable owners to reclaim their animals by appointment at a mutually agreeable time when the agency would otherwise be closed (Food & Agr., Code §§ 31108, 31752, and 31753);
- Verifying whether a cat is feral or tame by using a standardized protocol (Food & Agr. Code, § 31752.5);
- Posting lost and found lists (Food & Agr. Code, § 32001);
- Maintaining records on animals that are not medically treated by a veterinarian, but are either taken up, euthanized after the holding period, or impounded (Food & Agr. Code, § 32003); and
- Providing "necessary and prompt veterinary care" for abandoned animals, other than injured cats and dogs given emergency treatment, that are ultimately euthanized (Civ.Code, §§ 1834 and 1846).
TAKE ACTION: Contact Governor Jerry Brown, and tell him you OPPOSE the repeal of any portion of Hayden. At a time when other states in the U.S. are enacting legislation to advance the protection of animals in shelters, California should not be stepping backwards. Contrary to the assertion of HSUS' Jennifer Fearing, the paradigm has NOT shifted in California's shelters and animals continue to be killed at rates that far outpace the rates of adoption. The public policy preference of California continues to be favoring life over death, and thus the adoption, rather than killing, of shelter animals.