[Cagdu] legislation

[Juliett Cody]

From: 

IAADP 

 

To: 

IAADP at fuse.net 

 

Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 9:26 AM

 

Subject: IAADP Call for Action on California AB 1634

 

Dear California IAADP member, 

 

A bill will be heard by the California State Assembly that will have a negative impact on the assistance dog movement if passed.  Assistance Dogs International,

Guide Dogs for the Blind and Canine Companions for Independence in addition to IAADP are all opposed to AB 1634. 

 

Below is the letter I sent to the Speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Nunez.  It would be very helpful it you added your voice to the growing opposition to

this bill. Please contact your assemblyperson.

 

Thanks for your help. Hope you and your canine partner are doing well. 

 

Ed Eames, President IAADP 

 

International Association of Assistance Dog Partners 

 

President: Ed Eames, Ph.D. 

3376 N. Wishon, Fresno, CA 93704-4832 

Phone: (559) 224-0544    Fax: (559) 224-5851    E-mail: 

eeames at csufresno.edu 

 

Board of Directors: 

Dino Brownson, Toni Eames, Tanya Eversole, Jill Exposito, Joan 

Froling, 

Carol King, Wendy Morrell, Devon Wilkins  

May 20, 2007 

 

Assemblyman Fabian Nunez, Speaker  

California State Assembly 

FAX: 213 620-6319 

 

Re: OPPOSED - Levine AB1634 California Healthy Pets Act, 

              the May 9,2007 amended version and all versions 

 

Dear Speaker Nunez, 

 

As president of the International Association of Assistance Dog 

Partners (IAADP), I am writing in strong opposition to AB 1634. 

I request inclusion  in the listed opposition to this ill- 

conceived legislation being considered by your committee. 

 

IAADP is a cross-disability consumer advocacy organization with 

more than 1,700 people with disabilities working with guide, 

hearing and service dogs.  Our independence, safety, mobility and 

an improved quality of life are interwoven with our trained 

canine assistants' ability to mitigate some of the effects of our 

disabilities.  AB 1634 threatens the very foundation of the 

relationship between us and our canine partners in independence. 

 

Many assistance dog programs rely on breeding their own stock to 

supply puppies for future guide and service dog work.  Among 

these are Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB)in San Rafael, the 

largest guide dog training program in the country, and Canine 

Companions for Independence, (CCI) in Santa Rosa, the originator 

of the service dog concept.  

 

AB 1634 requires neutering or spaying at 4 months of age, 

considerably earlier than dogs demonstrate their ability to work 

as canine assistants.   GDB and CCI, as California-based 

internationally recognized programs, would face virtual 

annihilation.  My wife and I have guide dogs trained at Guide 

Dogs for the Blind, and we, as well as more than 2,000 blind and 

visually impaired GDB graduates throughout the United States, 

would face a future without successor canine assistants if AB 

1634 were implemented.  This would threaten our ability to safely 

travel, work and enjoy other aspects of daily life. 

 

Exemptions in AB1634 are not provided for assistance dog training 

programs breeding their own future working dogs.  However, 

exemptions are recommended for commercial and for profit 

breeders, thus excluding not-for-profit programs Like GDB and 

CCI.  Since only registered pure-bred dogs would be permitted to 

breed, successful working dogs, such as Golden/Labrador 

Retriever, Labrador/Poodle and other cross-breeds, would be 

eliminated. 

 

The suggestion in the bill that active working assistance dogs be 

used for breeding purposes shows a lack of understanding of the 

assistance dog movement.  Working assistance dogs are spayed and 

neutered to guarantee that sex drives will not interfere with 

their work ethic.  Thus, they are eliminated from the breeding 

and gene pool. 

 

Although some training programs breed their own stock, many 

smaller programs rely on hobby breeders, most of whom are not 

commercial or for profit breeders,  to donate puppies as future 

working dogs.  This is the case for Guide Dogs of the Desert of 

Palm Springs and Pawsitive Teams of San Diego.  Here again, AB 

1634 threatens future recruitment of dogs to help disabled 

people. 

 

California is not only the home for more than 15 guide, hearing 

and service dog programs, it is also the home of more disabled 

people partnered with assistance dogs than any other state.  If 

AB 1634 is passed, it will have a negative impact on disabled 

Californians, but also on people with disabilities throughout the 

United States.  

 

   The basic premise of the bill is that mandatory spay and 

neutering will result in a decline in animals brought to 

shelters.  Actually, animals in California shelters have shown a 

significant decline during the last two decades based upon 

continuing educational efforts.  A large number of dogs and cats 

are brought to shelters between the ages of 18 and 36 months by 

their owners because of behavioral issues and AB 1634 would have 

no impact on these relinquishments.    

 

Instead of being called the California Healthy Pets Act, this 

piece of misguided legislation should be the California Deprive 

People with Disabilities of Their Assistance Dog Act! 

 

Thank you for taking the views of IAADP into consideration 

 

Sincerely, 

 

Ed Eames, Ph.D., President 

IAADP 

 

 

Tanya Eversole, Director 

IAADP Board of Directors 

Membership Coordinator / Database Manager 

 

(513) 245-2199  

 

www.IAADP.org  

 

"Together we go farther than we could ever go apart."    Tanya & Brooke
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