CA DHS new 8/17/09 Draft Rabies Control Report used to support A.R.C. 91 (Lieu, Smyth) Adopt a Shelter Pet Month Resolution

The California Department of Health Services Veterinary Public Health Section on August 17, 2009 released an updated draft of its Annual Report of Local Rabies Control Activieis, 2008 with most jurisdictions now reporting.  Updating our July 10 entry here, the 2008 data still are a fraction of our file’s base year of 1980, when 437,776 dogs were euthanized in California shelters compared to 159,231 in 2008, a decline of almost 65%.  For reference, the California human population in 1980 was 23,667,764 and in 2008 was 36,756,666, an increase of of 35.61%.  Adjusted for the increase in human population, the decline in shelter euthanasia of dogs since 1980 is even more dramatic. 

This new DHS Draft was just in time for the first amendment on August 25 of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 91, introduced on August 20 by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-53) of Torrance and co-author Cameron Smyth (R-38) of Santa Clarita.  A.R.C. 91 would declare September 2009 Adopt a Shelter Pet Month and “encourage” pet adoption based on a long list of recitals.  They used the DHS Draft to dramatize the “high” shelter numbers, igoring the context of long term decline and expected short term increase due to the harsh economy.  The amendments also added other pet species to the resolution.  Promoting shelter adoptions is a worthy cause that should stand on its own merits without misrepresentation and innuendo. 

For more information on these topics, see our main web site at http://www.theanimalcouncil.com

CALIFORNIA VETERINARY MEDICAL BOARD MULTIDISCIPLINARY ADVISORY COMMITTEE KICKS OFF THIS WEEK

2008 California SB 1584 authored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-20), former Los Angeles City Council member, was one of the few animal bills to squeak through in the chaotic 2008 legislative session after gaining support of both the Veterinary Medical Board and the California Veterinary Medical Association and despite partisan opposition based on fiscal concerns.  The billl required(among other things) the VMB to create a Multidisciplinary Committee which is just now getting started and will hold its first meeting on August 25-26 to consider inspection, enforcement and other issues of requirements imposed by SB 1584.  The committee members are 3 vets – Dr. William Grant, II, Dr. Richard Johnson and Dr. Jon Klingborg (small animal practitioner from Merced, son of Dr. Don Klingborg of UC Davis), one Registered Veterinary Technician, Jennifer Boyle, RVT, one Public Member, Diana Woodward Hagle and VMB Board President, Linda Starr as Liason to the VMB. 

Business and Professions Code Section 4809.8 (added by SB 1584): 
   4809.8.  (a) The board shall appoint a voluntary, advisory multidisciplinary committee to assist, advise, and make recommendations for the implementation of rules and regulations necessary to ensure proper administration and enforcement of this chapter. Members of the committee shall be appointed from lists of nominees solicited by the board. The committee shall consist of no more than nine members.
   (b) The committee shall be subject to the requirements of Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
   (c) Committee members shall receive a per diem as provided in Section 103 and shall be compensated for their actual travel expenses in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the Department of Personnel Administration.
   (d) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2011, and as of January 1, 2012, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed. The repeal of this section renders the committee subject to the review required by Division 1.2 (commencing with Section 473).

For SB 1584 details, see our 2008 California Bill Tracking page at
http://theanimalcouncil.com/CA2008.html

San Mateo County animal licensing renewal notices compete for attention with junk mail postcards.

Which postcard is the San Mateo County Animal License Renewal Notice?

Which little green post card is the San Mateo County Animal License renewal notice from Irving, Texas based PetData?  Waiting for the renewal notice for a dog license due 9/1/09, one after another small green postcards were dropped through the mail slot where hazards abound for small pieces of paper.  The retirement planner, then the local dentist with a new patient special… and finally on August 10, the little green card from Texas, retrieved before it could be blown away.  This dog needs a rabies vaccination this year, so we need to send this card back with the certificate and check in an envelope we’ll need to prepare.  So far, so good, but what about others in SMC where the demographics are weighted to aging people and those whose first language does not use the English alphabet?  I guess the price is right, for me and the County, but it will still take the rest of August to be ready to send off the renewal.  As for current San Mateo County licensing data, the County administration of the entire Animal Control Program was placed under the Health Department by ordinance amendment at the end of 2006 and ever since, licensing reports to the California Department of Health Services have ranged from incredibly high to incredibily low to none at all, providing no reliable data at all through this source.  See 7/10/09 post for more information or

http://www.theanimalcouncil.com/Reference.html

Sharon A. Coleman
President, The Animal Council