CHICAGO, CHICAGO

Don't you wish Bob Barker would stay in the land of fruits and nuts?  He was lobbying in Chicago last year for mandatory neutering.  That proposal was killed and dogs' lives were saved.

However, it appears that behind the scenes lobbying has been ongoing and per usual, councillors are being fed lies by those with an agenda geared toward extinction.

John Yates has the details.  If you live in Chicago, get busy.

Here's the lede:

CHICAGO – A City Council joint committee has scheduled a hearing for this coming Thursday on a proposed citywide spay and neuter mandate for dogs and cats. The American Sporting Dog Alliance is urging Chicago dog owners to attend this hearing and voice strong opposition to this ordinance. The 10 a.m. hearing will be held on March 12, 2009, in City Council chambers.

 

We also are asking dog owners to take an active role by contacting the aldermen and informing them about the issues described in this report, and your own reasons for opposition. Faxes and letters are best, followed by phone calls and emails. Here is a link to contact information for each member of City Council:

Here is a link to the web pages of each of the aldermen, where you will find contact information: http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalProgramAction.do?programId=536879154&channelId=-536879035&topChannelName=Government.

 

Prompt action is urgent and should be the highest priority. Inaction will doom dog ownership in Chicago.

And here's the whole thing.

Comments

[unknown]

This is unrelated but a comment about Bob Barker.
Bob was up meddling at the Edmonton Zoo a couple weeks ago over the fate of an elephant. The zoologist from the Edmonton Zoo made the comment about the welfare of the elephant, "what would I know?"
"Bob on the other hand must know what he is talking about being a game show host"! It irritates the hell out of me that Drew Carey still ends the show with "spay and neuter your animals". I have watched it once since the dinosaur retired..

[unknown]

Please pardon my ignorance, why do spay/neuter laws threaten dogs lives?
Thanks!

[unknown]

Anonymous, well pardon your flying monkey status because were nice that way.
When a municipality brings in a misguided policy that mandates neutering (correct for both sexes, if you insist on using spay then you must use castrate) it leads to increased impoundments and deaths for good dogs that are seized from good owners because the AC guys are on a gonad hunt. It is equivalent to a breed (hardy-har-har) ban in that it forcuses on appearance rather than actions.
The unfortunate result of these kinds of laws is that more dogs are seized and killed for no reason, again, much like breed (hardy-har-har- bans).
Get it?

[unknown]

welcome back!

[unknown]

Anon - Think about this:
What if Im a pretty good owner (I wont say Im "perfect", at least on someone elses blog) but couldnt afford to neuter all my pets suddenly because some busybody passed a law requiring it? Should I have my pets taken away because of that? What will happen to them if they are taken away?

[unknown]

Thanks for the response, guys! (Ill make a login next time, I promise!)
That makes a lot of sense, because thats exactly how I got my rescue pittie - we live in Ontario, and his previous owner didnt neuter him, so when the pound got him the owner didnt claim him (for fear of prosecution, presumably). He was on his way to the gas chamber, and Im the luckiest girl in the world to have gotten the chance to intervene just in time!
Thanks for putting the pieces together for me.
anonymous/noncarborundum

[unknown]

You dont have to log in, Anon, you can just put your name in the space at the top in the SECOND set of ID forms. You can include your email (not published) and your website/blog as well if you wish.
Normally, your dog would have been killed for being in violation of the Ontario law unless he was a show dog and entered in at least one show per year. The same thing happens to pit bulls (yeah, right) that are too young, ie, born after Nov 27, 2005. So the people at the shelter cut your dog a break.

[unknown]

One of the big downsides I have seen with MSN are the dog owners who most often fall victim to overzealous ACOs and a citys kneejerk legislation. Over and over again I see folks who are good pet owners who just dont have the money at the time for s/n or knowledge of lowcost options. Instead of these over zealous ACO types offering education they ticket and fine the owner and often times impound the dog. If the owner doesnt have the money to get the dog fixed it stands to reason they dont have the money to get the dog out of the pound or pay the fine.
The citys are quick to pass this crap but never sit down to look at the process of implementation or the actual cost.

[unknown]

As not only a resident of the land of fruity nut bars, but also a resident of the county of special organic cannibis trail mix, may I ask that whoever has Bob to please go ahead and keep him? Please, pretty please, just for a while.
Or perhaps we can find him a nice "sanctuary" to live out his days in peace just like he wants for the elephants. If we all just pitch in a few dollars we can make it happen!