From:
Jan Dykema
Sent:
Wed, Dec 11, 2013 11:38 pm
Subject:
MSN
Dear
Supervisor Foy:
I
spent the entire evening watching the entire public hearing on
Ventura passing a mandatory spay/neuter law. Much of it was painful
as I listened to erudite speakers having to defend their right to
breed a litter of puppies without the government looking over their
shoulder (or rather "inspecting" their private homes) and
extracting fees and other fines, and .. let's call it what it
really is, a TAX.. on people who wish to breed their dog.
I watched as
speaker after speaker presented concrete evidence; facts and
statistics that without any doubt showed that MSN does not work,
never has worked and never will work. I watched as people decried
and denied these facts as somehow irrelevant to Ventura County; as if
it was somehow special and that what happens in LA is not relevant.
It IS relevant, and always will be.
Facts are facts. The housing "bubble"
cannot be blamed for years of proven statistics that show MSN does
not work.
I live in Napa County. We do not have MSN. Lake County is
the next county over, and they do have MSN . Their shelter kills many
more animals than we do.
As
I looked at Ventura County stats I wondered, how much better can they
get? Your shelter is doing a great job, numbers are dropping at a huge
rate, so why the need for this (I hesitate to use the word as it was
so overworked) "tool"? It appears that you will reach the 90% rate in
very little time if all continues as it has neen, without MSN. I was
impressed with the amount of VOLUNTARY surgeries that were already
done in your area and with the fact they were low cost or even free.
Good for you! It is working and working well, if all of that is true.
I
will be forthcoming. I am a licensed American Kennel Club judge and
an occasional breeder of English Bull Terriers ( the Target dog,
General Patton or Spuds Mackenzie depending on your shopping habits,
age and propensity for libations). I sit on the Board of Directors of
the California Federation of Dog Clubs and have spent much time in
Sacramento lobbying for people rights to own and breed animals of all
types and for them to be able to use the animals for the work
they were bred for, so I am not entirely neutral on this issue; but I
try to be open minded because I am also a trained Humane Officer.
I
did see that much information was handed to you all during the
hearing. I wondered why? None of you had any time to read the
information before the vote was taken, although it did seem that you
( and you alone) had time to look at the charts that were presented
and at least absorb the information.
Animals
are a very emotional issue, but all facts must be considered
including loss of income for the county, and less licensing for dogs and cats. A
major problem that I did not hear addressed in a very significant way
was the drop in rabies vaccinations that occurs when punitive laws
are put into effect. Rabies is not a dog issue. It is a serious
public health issue and when people do not comply due to fear or
interference, the risk is escalated to a degree that cannot be
calculated until a human being is infected and dies.
Finally,
I heard the words "No Kill" over and over again. And yet, no one
actually reported who is the "father" of the No Kill movement.
That would be Nathan Winograd. Mr. Winograd invented the words "No
Kill" and has a very specific plan on how shelters can become "No Kill".
Nowhere anywhere in his statements and writings regarding No Kill
does Mr Winograd EVER say MSN is a part of the No Kill program. If
fact, he intentionally says MSN NEVER helps the No Kill program
and that MSN should never be a part of any No Kill program.
I
have taken the liberty to include a few of Mr. Winograds information by
attachments here. (all safe to open) Here is an excerpt:
"Moreover,
mandatory spay/neuter laws are not a new or untested idea in the U.S.
They have been around for decades and historically have been the
favored form of pseudo-advocacy by the voices of tradition within the
animal sheltering industry. In fact, many U.S. communities already
have such laws. Are those communities No Kill? No, far from it. While
mandatory spay/neuter laws have long been the siren song of the
animal protection movement, the evidence proves that when implemented
in the U.S., such laws have been disastrous. Over and over, mandatory
spay/neuter legislation is pushed as a quick solution to high rates
of shelter killing."
“If only we had a spay/neuter law” the
argument goes, “all the bad, irresponsible people would have to
take care of their pets properly, and shelters wouldn’t have to
kill so many animals.” If this were true, given the proliferation
of such punitive mandates nationwide, these laws would have already
created many No Kill communities. That there are none as a result of
mandatory spay/neuter laws proves that such legislation does not
work. In fact, it often has the opposite effect. Communities that
have passed such laws are not only far from No Kill; they are moving
in the opposite direction, killing more, not fewer animals."
I
hope Ventura County will be the exception to this rule but statistics
and time do not bear this out.
Thank
you for your support of less government interference in the lives of
American citizens and for voting no on this ordinance. You would have
my vote if I had one!
Jan
Jan
Dykema
Certified
Humane Officer
American
Kennel Club Judge
BOD
California Federation of Dog Clubs
attachments:
