Summary:
On Wednesday, April 3, the Los Angeles Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment Committee voted to send a proposal to the full Los Angeles City Council that would suspend the issuance of new breeding permits. There is not a date set for the city council to consider this proposal, but AKC will provide updates as they happen.
Reminder: this proposal would impact all who breed in the city, and as currently enforced, it could also impact owners of intact dogs even if they are not currently breeding. Read AKC’s previous alert for more details on the proposal.
What You Can Do:
Contact your member on the Los Angeles City Council:
Los Angeles residents are strongly encouraged to contact your councilmember (find your councilmember by clicking here and entering your address):
- District 1: Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez; hernandez@lacity.org; 213 473-7001
- District 2: Councilmember Paul Krekorian; Krekorian@lacity.org; (213) 473-7002
- District 3: Councilmember Bob Blumenfield; blumenfield@lacity.org; (213) 473-7003
- District 4: Councilmember Nithya Raman; contactCD4@lacity.org; (213) 473-7004
- District 5: Councilmember Katy Yarolavsky; yaroslavsky@lacity.org; 213 473-7005
- District 6: Councilmember Imelda Padilla; padilla@lacity.org; 213 473-7006
- District 7: Councilmember Monica Rodriguez; rodriguez@lacity.org; (213) 473-7007
- District 8: Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson; harris-dawson@lacity.org; (213) 473-7008
- District 9: Councilmember Curren D. Price, Jr.; price@lacity.org; 213 473-7009
- District 10: Councilmember Heather Hutt; cd10@lacity.org; 213 473-7010
- District 11: Councilmember Traci Park; park@lacity.org; 213 473-7011
- District 12: Councilmember John Lee; Lee@lacity.org; (213) 473-7012
- District 13: Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez; soto-martinez@lacity.org; (213) 473-7013
- District 14: Councilmember Kevin de León; kevindeleon@lacity.org; 213-473-7014
- District 15: Councilmember Tim McOsker; mcosker@lacity.org; 213 473-7015
Some points to be sure to mention to your councilmember:
- Remind them that responsible breeders are not the reason for shelter population concerns. In fact, responsible licensed breeders are part of the solution – providing well-bred dogs to families and ensuring these dogs never end up in shelters.
- Ensure that the councilmembers understand the difference between an intact animal permit and a breeding permit and that under current law residents should not be forced to purchase a breeding permit simply to maintain an intact animal. Remind them that responsible owners of intact animals are not the reason for shelter population concerns.
- Ask your councilmember to consider adopting the same standards or similar standards for issuing an intact animal permit for issuing breeding permits, including allowing a permit for dogs registered with a national or international kennel club with appropriate documentation.
- In terms of addressing issues in animal shelter system, offer your councilmember the following steps which would have a greater impact on shelter system than banning responsible breeding:
- Ensure good data collection to determine where issues are originating and allow for arising problems to be adequately addresses.
- Require all animals received in the shelter system to be checked for microchips so lost pets can be quickly reunited with their owners and don’t languish in shelter system taking up valuable space and resources.
- Make sure low-cost spay and neuter funds are available to all who need it and ensure that program availability is widely known through community outreach.
- Statistics provided by the city demonstrate that many of the dogs coming into the shelter system are owner surrender. It is highly unlikely this is all due to irresponsible breeders. Often, dogs are surrendered due to economical or other unforeseen circumstances, including housing. Consider offering tax credits or other programs to incentivize greater acceptance of pets in residential housing to address issue of pets ending up in shelter system only because of housing issues.
- Develop a plan to manage “dangerous dogs” taken in and kept in the shelter system.
Visit Breeding Regulations and Restrictions in the AKC Legislative Action Center for more talking points and information.
AKC GR will provide updates as warranted on next steps as they are available. For questions or more information on California legislation, contact AKC GR at doglaw@akc.org.