"Being "in line with the rest of the state" is of dubious value."  "Kern County should strive to be better than the rest of the state."

Those are interesting comments. If only Kern County were not so far behind the curve regarding education, wage levels, employment levels and property values of these  "ultra-liberal counties to our west" your argument  might have an ounce of merit.

Let us be very clear here, the ownership of a pet is a privilege that comes with responsibilities. It is also a business that is played out every day in the media through advertising and marketing of the product to  prospective buyers. Every business operation in Kern County pays fees and is subject to EPA standards, except breeders. We reached a critical mass of pet overpopulation many years ago and have seen very little  effort on behalf of the breeders, or the public, to curb this dangerous health and safety problem.

No one forces  a person into pet ownership. It is not an inherent right  of life. People who do not have pets are not thought of as being any less humane or competent in society than pet owners. If you wish to equate pet ownership as a property rights issue, know that pet ownership and vehicle ownership can be thought of on very equal terms. Waste disposal when changing the vehicle's oil needs to be properly disposed of. There are fees  and taxes applied to vehicles and their equipment that go to maintain the surfaces and infrastructure necessary to operate the vehicles. All operators of vehicles are licensed, and every vehicle is registered with the state and local municipalities.

The free ride of indifference to life, health and safety is over in this county, and I look forward to seeing you at every Board of Supervisors meeting going forward regarding this issue.

 This is outrageous.  I have long since believed that the relatively new ordinance which prohibits people from owning more than three dogs has contributed to the euthanasia issue.  The Sophie's Choice analogy is spot on.  There are many people who love animals and take very good care of them.  My pets get better health care than I do myself.

 I feel they should make S/N more affordable than to make it mandatory. That would be fair to everyone, give people a choice and not be forced into a huge squeeze in their pocket books or feel like they are being dictated too.

Awhile back I read a response by Chico where he talked about cutting calves and why something so simple has a huge price tag on it.. Im sure everyone has experienced the inflated pricing we suffer from simple procedures performed by vets. It forces some people to pick up a book and learn how to do things themselves. Like collecting and Ai'ing horses..we finally took a course and do all our own now mostly because if the mares didnt take during just one cycle ..we were still out hundreds of dollars.. For the price of a couple mares breeding fees at the vet we paid for the course and bought our own equipment. It just didnt make sense to blow off all that money better used some where else out here.

The vets know we do it and actually gave a positive response because it helped take some of the wear and tear off them during breeding season..we still have them ultra sound to check folicle size and verify pregnancy, but the meanial task of collecting and inseminating is off their busy schedules.

Im not suggesting that everyone cut their own pets but there are people out there that are perfectly capable of perfecting the procedure and helping to setup a clinic to do so. We need to tap this resource we have here because we are an animal orineted community and have had people who do some of their own vet work for decades right here in our midst that would love to get a new county job that was actually doing something to better our community and not start World War III. (by the way ..incase your thinking Im looking?? Im retired so Im not applying here)

In my experience over the years people just DO NOT like their neighbors telling them how to keep house no matter what the topic. Taking away peoples rights is not what made this country great.

Lets work together on this and set an example for the rest of the world to follow. Not do it "their way" just because that was their easy answer to it. Our animal community is better than that. We have come together in the past on other animal concerns and stopped blind justice, we can do it again.

I agree Sioux.  Many years ago I had 3 miniture poodles.  The cost to get them groomed was outrageous!  I bought a book on grooming and all the clippers and such and proceeded to clip my own dogs!  Of course the first couple of times they went and hid under the bed!!!!  But I got better and soon everybody was happy.

I will say it again....and again....and again....MORE laws WILL NOT affect those who already don't care! They will not get their pets s/n - they will not get the shots they need - they will not keep them in a fenced yard.  I STILL think the possible answer is to micro chip all dogs/cats that are adopted out or sold with new owners info; address-phone, etc. - but again, the back yard breeders will NOT comply so you still have the problem!

 I agree witter..case in point Gun control..no matter how hard they try to control it..somebody will still have one tucked under their bed or worse under the seat of their car..Its an american RIGHT to bare arms..we just gotta deal with the nut cases too keep it that way. (umm I dont own a gun but have nothing against people that do as long as they are doing it properly)

If irresponsible breeders feel the rules dont apply to them they will not follow them and we DO NOT have the resources here to enforce the new laws to follow them around to see if they are letting their dogs continue to breed...

Too hire more control officers would be a huge waste of money when those funds could be applied to an alternative source such as S/N paid personnel. Its all so simple..Instead of hiring 20 new control officers hire 5 low cost S/N personnel and get to clippin 

I think some folks just like telling others what to do.

There is no gun control in America. We don't even have a law prohibiting assault rifles. Washington D.C., which enacted one of the toughest hand-gun laws in the land, will very soon have their local gun law repudiated by the Supreme Court. A person can be certifiably insane and own a gun in this country. Just look at the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois cases as the most recent confirmation of this amazing societal fact.

I will say that laws, which are selectively enforced with significant penalty/fines, do make a difference in behavior. Look at traffic laws as one example. Who is to say that with increased funding from licenses, fees and fines that low-cost spay/neuter personnel won't be hired to help provide added facilities to perform the needed operational services?

 

 

 Breeder's words at the State Legislature last year are coming back to haunt them, "It's a local issue, not a state issue."

Now that the State is moving towards transferring costs back onto the counties, we suddenly see the same counties which denied they had a problem, moving toward the only answer left for them: Mandatory spay neuter. If anybody reading is actually claiming educating and low-cost altering are answers: why, who better to do this education, altering & chipping than the breeders, at point of purchase, when selling these dogs to the public? Are they too busy? Too lazy? Too cheap? Or is that not a convenient definition of "responsibility"? Simply because you don't want your show dogs altered, doesn't give you excuse to enfranchise someone else to be reckless.

Why should the public pay the cost of 'educating' a dog owner? We already have to bear the costs of education for children, we build schools and fund any number of youth programs. Are we also supposed to build the shelters, pay the housing and destruction costs of 'animals' because their breeders care so little for them that they sell MOST intact that they, can in turn, breed? Practically every time you read the word "right" used relating to dogs, it should read: "OPINION" or "belief". Any so-called 'right' has been determined by Federal Court to be met with 'due process' when it comes to MSN.

I don't see many gun owners clamoring that the public should pay the costs to educate people in how to shoot or take care of their rifle. Nor are they profiting from baby gun sales. Not many motor sports enthusiasts are raging at meetings about how their rights will be violated if they have to pay license fees on the vehicles they use to tow their play boxes.  And they don't hide their vehicles when an officer is in the area. Why are dog breeders so special?

Yet, I DO see lots and lots of private or gun-club funded activities to teach responsible gun handling, shooter safety classes, sporting hunts and the like. When was the last time a dog club held a "leash law" seminar? Or funded a spay clinic? You want everyone else to pay for the collateral effects of your hobby: how about you step up and pay? That would be a step toward public responsibility.

I see moto-cross courses and youth instruction for biking and safety programs paid for by bike-clubs and off-road trails being built, maintained, and monitored by those enthusiasts. Can anyone name the dog park, shelter, or agility course which is the product of such magnanimity in Kern? Yet dog shows and trials are held on public lands supported with services paid by public funds. What do you give us back? If your answer is 'tax dollars from visitors': prove it locally and show how it offsets shelter costs.

The side-effects of other 'sports' are few and those sports are dealing with them. Cat/dog 'sport' produces more animals, more cat/dog waste, more barking & yowling, more need for public funded services. Again: what makes breeders so special?

I sat on a jury not so long ago where the defendant's lawyer argued all of the Rights his client had. When the case got going, they presented many claims of how other people were responsible or should be looked at first, how the police were not fair or to be trusted and a different law was not being enforced. After being found guilty, during sentencing arguments we heard all the excuses of how the defendant wasn't given an even break and was singled out. In the jury room, each of us asked the same questions: What did he do to help himself? Why should this guy get the benefit of our mercy?

And God help the attorney, witness, or convict who came back and threatened participants in the process for having made their deliberations!

What do dog/cat breeders do for society that we should overlook the consequences and costs to the public? Why should we tolerate their 'outrage' and vindictive behavior towards elected officials, businesses and citizens who address a public issue in the public forum? What gives them the right?

Interestingly enough, one of the "Western Values" of the area is that dogs can be dumped when their utility is gone. A plentiful source of new dogs contributes to that value.

 This essay was written about the proposed change to zoning ordinances which will require Conditional Use Permits for some people with multiple dogs and outright prohibit multiple dogs for other people, depending on the zoning of their property.  After a series of public workshops and many hours of discussion the majority public opinion (outside Bakersfield) was being ignored by several Commissioners, thus the essay.

 Just for once lets set aside our greed and think about the animals.  We all know there are people out there who will not get their animals fixed or cannot afford to get them fixed.

I for one am on disability and have two strays I took in years ago and also my loving yellow lab.  If it had not been for med-i-cal several years ago where they offered a program two of mine would have been very hard to come up with the money. 

Dont get me wrong though, I stayed in the house and watched my female until she was through with her heat cycle and even put pads on her until her heat cycle was over.  Several cycles, because I would not want an animal put to death at ANIMAL CONTROL and have it be my fault.  I live along and my dogs are my family and they all have lived to a ripe old age.  I give them their shots, etc. (Except rabies, the vet does that), and obtain antibiotics if I think it is needed, (there are ways in many pet catologs). 

The vet said my yellow lab had ear fungus, and it cost me $100.  The next time I did research and checked ingredients and found the same ingrediant at the pharmacy for $7.00

My yellow lab that sleeps with me was fixed by ALPHA CANINE.  They fix low income peoples dogs, but they have to operate on donations to do this. 

I dont know if people with extra income care to think about those animals who are put to sleep, but I would hate to think that they would put breeding ahead of animals who have stupid owners who have the money and just let their dogs have litter after litter and dump them in orange groves.  My neighbors for one.  These people need to get hit in pocket book for not getting these animals fixed. Think how much money it would save the county in the long run not having to pay for all the animal control people and the facility, not to mention our animals who are the victims.I am sure the county would be mindful of breeders who run a legitemate business or we would not have any pure breds.  But if they breed and just throw them in the trash because they have a flaw, (Ive seen it on dateline) then they should  might I say even go to jail, hard time for animal abusers.  That is one of the first sign of Serial Killers. 

Well I think I have had my say.  Let God guide your heart, (if you even believe in him).

Proverbs Chapter Ten:  The righteous man careth for his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked is cruelty.  Amen

                          Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â            MDillwilson@aol.com                          Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â