Home   • Welcome   • Latest News   Regional Info   • News   • Regional   Director's Corner   • Legislative   • Treasurer   Show Info   • Show Calendar   • Region 2 Clubs   • HHP Scoring   • Show Photos   • Vendors   Top Cats   • Kittens   • Championship   • Premiership   • HHPs   • DMs   • Veterans   • Agility   • Breed Winners   • Previous Winners   Contacts   • Officers &   Committees   Links   • Links		March 31, 2002 The Honorable Liz Figueroa Chair, Senate Committee on Business and Professions Senate Committee on Business & Professions State Capitol, Room 2053 Sacramento, CA 95814 Attention: Bill Gage, Chief Consultant                VIA Facsimile: 916-324-0917 Re:   SB 1357:   Pet Shops   -   OPPOSITION Dear Senator Figueroa; The Cat Fanciers' Association is a non-profit organization founded in 1906. As the largest registry of pedigreed cats in the world our mission is to preserve and promote the pedigreed breeds of cats and to enhance the well-being of all cats. CFA is a positive force that helps to educate the general public about proper cat care, spay/neuter and responsible pet ownership. I am writing on behalf of CFA to urge the defeat of SB 1357 and to ask that our organization be included on the list of those opposed in the Bill Analysis for the Committee. The California Penal Code outlines requirements concerning the care and treatment of animals in pet shops and for selling/adopting. We do not believe it is appropriate for the State to now impose criminal penalties (up to $1000 fines and imprisonment) should a sales clerk or individual seller fail to provide a vaguely described written instruction document to a buyer. This bill is another step in a series of attempts by animal activists to make selling of pets in this state both difficult and dangerous. Every pet owner ideally should have care information. Considering cats, there is certainly no one "proper" instruction on any of the basics of "care, housing, equipment, cleaning, environment and feeding". There is a range of expert opinion on all of these matters. New cat owners find excellent information and develop ongoing knowledge in many ways including past experience, veterinarian, friends and relatives, books and magazines, cat shows, pet industry advertising, TV programs and the Internet. They are actually bombarded with information - it is not scarce - and responsible cat owners are eager to learn. The CFA website "book store" is a source for selected books. Pet shops, as businesses, are especially motivated to sell quality books at the point of sale, which is preferable to a superficial government mandated instruction sheet. Most cats arrive with no instruction sheets because they are obtained as strays (29%) or from friends/relatives (39%). Yet cat owners take responsibility and do learn. Only 5% of cats are obtained from pet shops. Whenever an individual makes an active decision to purchase a cat there is already a high likelihood that they will also actively seek information. It does not require a criminal law. Regardless of the source of pets there are those who are unwilling to learn or who lack access to materials in their language. SB 1357 would do nothing to address this real need. The New York City ASPCA "CARES" (Community-based Animal Resources, Education and Services) is an example of a positive program. Mobile units travel to neighborhoods with limited access to education offering multilingual materials and free seminars on pet care, bite prevention and other topics along with vaccination clinics and spay/neuter services. CFA supports innovative initiatives that target identified problem areas and actually help animals. SB1357 simply creates burdensome requirements for animal sellers and is unwarranted. Very truly yours, Joan Miller CFA Legislative Coordinator cc. Committee members