California Sportsmen Stop Bill to End Dog Breeding
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California Sportsmen Stop Bill to End Dog Breeding





(Sacramento) - California sportsmen have derailed legislation that would have outlawed the breeding of accomplished sporting dogs and eventually made it impossible to breed and own hunting dogs.

On July 11, AB 1634 was pulled from the Senate Local Government Committee agenda after the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, realized it did not have enough support to pass. The bill, which cannot be considered again during this legislative session, requires dogs over six months to be spayed or neutered. It provides exemptions only for licensed breeders and a handful of purebred animals that meet rigid qualifications. It provides no protection for sportsmen who hunt over mixed breed dogs.

Assembly Bill 1634 will cause unnecessary financial hardships on middle and low income sportsmen who will be forced to spay or neuter their animals.

“Sportsmen’s pressure on California lawmakers has helped protect hobby breeders and hunting interests, but the fight is not over” said Rob Sexton, USSA vice president for government affairs. “Assemblyman Levine has vowed to spend the next six months garnering support for Assembly Bill 1634. Sportsmen must be prepared to continue the fight in 2008.”

The USSA worked with key national and local sportsmen’s groups and dog organizations to drum up grassroots action and defeat the measure. California Houndsmen for Conservation, California Outdoor Heritage Alliance, Masters of Foxhounds Association of America and PetPAC are among the organizations that helped raise awareness, motivate hunters to action, and raise funds to defeat the bill.

In 2006, the USSA worked with California sportsmen to protect hunting interests by blocking a bill that threatened hunting dog competitors and field coursers. Three years earlier, it worked with partners in the state to defeat legislation that would have banned bear hunting, fox hunting, rabbit hunting, raccoon hunting and more.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organization that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.

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