Arizona Bill May Force Spay and Neuter
by joy ~ February 5th, 2008Arizona House Bill 2516 seeks to prohibit ownership of intact dogs and puppies over the age of six months without a permit. My initial thought was, “Cool. Maybe that will help reduce the number of dogs and cats that end up in shelters.” Upon closer review of the Bill, I found it has some serious issues that need to be addressed, and in it’s current state would make life more difficult for responsible breeders. You can check out the bill here. Thanks to the AKC for compiling a handy list of all the Representatives you can contact regarding the Bill. The main problem points:
1. In order to get and maintain a permit to keep an intact dog, you have to meet certain requirements. One requirement states that the dog must be training to compete or competing in shows. OK, no biggie. But then they slap a time limit on it. Your dog must be titled by age three, or you can’t renew your permit. For breeds like Mastiffs that don’t even reach adulthood until age 2 1/2 to three, this could be a problem if you’re going for a confirmation title. What happens if your dog has half of his points and turns three?
2. The bill provides a loophole for people to breed one male and one female dog per household one time. The intact permit is only good for one year, and if it must be obtained by the time the dog is 6 months old, do the math (don’t foget to allow 2 months for pregnancy) and this is forcing breeding way too early. 16-18 month old dogs are not only too young for breeding, screenings for genetic issues such as hip dysplasia are not reliable if the dog is under 2 years.  Not only does this allow irresponsible breeders to continue breeding, now they must be more irresponsible by breeding young dogs without health screenings.
3. Your intact dog permit can be revoked if you refuse to allow an inspection of your home or premesis where the dog is kept. Whoa! Major violation of privacy. Just come on in whenever you feel like it, no cause, no warrant necessary.
Responsible owners who are already complying with local animal control laws will be unfairly punished by HB 2516, while irresponsible breeders both inside and outside of Arizona will continue to make problems for the community and local shelters while profiting off of the sale of dogs. I urge our lawmakers to focus their attention in this matter on mass breeding facilities, kennels, and those who choose to disregard the current laws and will likely continue to do so.
Please read the Bill for yourselves and send your comments to the Representatives.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
It’s also unfortunate that this bill does nothing to discourage pet stores from importing puppy mill dogs from other states. This law will drive responsible breeders out of the area, leaving pet stores with poor quality puppies raised in sub-standard conditions as the only option for people looking for a puppy. If lawmakers would focus on the real problem - puppy mills - they could greatly reduce the animal overpopulation issue by eliminating the worst offenders - puppy mills and pet stores.