AB 2343 has just been introduced in California. If passed, it would allow (and in some cases require) shelters to give dogs and cats to for-profit companies to sell for any reason whatsoever. In the case of cats entering shelters without ID, shelters can adopt them out or give them to individuals who sell them the very moment the cat enters a shelter, the very day that animal becomes lost, and before a family even has the opportunity to recognize that their cat it missing. In other words, if your cat gets lost, loses his collar, and ends up at the shelter, you have no right to reclaim him if the shelter gives him to or adopts him out to someone else, including individuals who sell animals for profit.
How does it do this? Sec. 31752(b)(1)(B) of the proposed bill says that stray cats without identification can be adopted or transferred to a “rescue group” immediately. Subsection (g) then changes the definition of a “rescue group” to be for-profit or nonprofit. It can be a 501(c)(3) or an “entity” or a collaboration of individuals who sell dogs and cats. There is no requirement that the sale be for purposes of companionship. There are no standards of any kind for these for-profit individuals.
What might they sell animals for? According to one legal analysis, since state law preempts local laws, AB 2343 would potentially undo local laws that prevent shelter animals from being sold to research labs, thus allowing “bunchers” to do so.
- Click here to read the analysis by a UCLA law professor.
Please email the following legislators and implore them to reject AB 2343:
Here is sample language you can use (please feel free to cut and paste to your email):
I am writing to urge you to vote No on AB 2343. AB 2343 loses sight of what is, in fact, one of the primary functions and mandates of a taxpayer funded, municipal animal shelter: to provide a safe haven for the lost animals of local people and a place where they can go to find them. Since their taxes pay for these services, families with cats deserve the same amount of time as families who share their homes with dogs to reclaim their companions. At the same time that the bill immediately divests a family of their cat, it allows shelters to immediately give these cats to others who could then sell them for a profit and sell them for any reason whatsoever, not just for purposes of companionship. This will put animals in harm’s way. Thank you.
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