Basically its about a senate bill 914 which would make it illegal to sell puppies under 8 weeks old in california, it just needs Arnold's signature.
Seven-week-old basset hound puppies hang out in the Elk Grove backyard of breeders Jeff Graham and Mary Sansoni. Senate Bill 914, which passed the Legislature this month and awaits signing or veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, would prohibit the sale and transfer of puppies younger than 8 weeks old.
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Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer
A puppy plan with teeth
Bill's 8-week-old standard for sales gets mixed reaction from breeders
By Jim Sanders -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, September 26, 2005
Story appeared on Page A3 of The Bee
California's penal code soon could contain another crime: Selling puppies younger than 8 weeks old.
Legislation aimed at tiny canines whose bark is bigger than their kibble-eating bite awaits signing or veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Senate Bill 914, which passed the Legislature this month, is touted by supporters as a consumer safety and puppy protection measure.
The bill stems from profiteering in which sick or dying puppies have been sold to unsuspecting families, said Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, who proposed the legislation.
"People are buying animals who are not aware of the circumstances," said Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys. "You spend a lot of money, $400 or $500, the animal dies shortly thereafter, and you have no recourse."
Opponents blast the bill as unnecessary government meddling and a one-size-fits-all solution without adequate documentation that every dog is harmed by early transfer.
Tiphani Smith, 25, of Antelope said the 6-week-old pit bull she was selling for $200 this week was mature enough for a new home.
"I think six weeks is fine, as long as they're weaned from their mother, and they look healthy," she said.
Smith said government should leave such decisions to breeders, who can monitor their puppies' development day by day.
"The next step will be to tell us when we can have pups and when we can't," she said. "Seriously, when is enough, enough?"
Deputy Director Mark Hennelly of the California Waterfowl Association, representing duck hunters, said hunting dogs tend to be very trainable at seven weeks and bond well with humans.
"You can't teach an old dog new tricks," Hennelly said. "If you wait too long, a puppy will be less likely to take training from a human being."
Kehoe counters that eight weeks is a common standard in other animal regulations. For example, younger dogs can't be sold in pet stores or placed for adoption by shelters.
SB 914 extends the concept to people who sell dogs more casually, perhaps from their home, by telephone or in a parking lot.
Violators could be charged with an infraction - subject to a maximum $250 fine - or with a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The bill, sponsored by the Doris Day Animal League, would allow an offense to be charged for each puppy sold.
SB 914 provides an exception for breeders or sellers who obtain written authorization from their veterinarian.
The bill applies only to puppies sold, not given away, and it excludes animal control agencies and nonprofit pet shelters.
Veterinarian Rick Timmins, director of the Center for Animals in Society at the University of California, Davis, said puppies often are weaned at six to seven weeks.
An eight-week standard provides time to observe a puppy's eating habits, weight gain and overall health after weaning, he said.
Occasions could arise when transference at an earlier age is advisable, however, such as when a breeder is not providing puppies with adequate attention or care, Timmins said.
Dogs typically are not spayed or neutered before eight weeks, he said.
Jeff Graham, 52, is selling nine basset hound puppies from his Elk Grove home through want ads in The Bee. He does not plan to release them until they are eight weeks old, though he began selling them earlier.
SB 914 would not affect Graham's sales practices because its restrictions apply only upon transference of a puppy.
Graham has mixed feelings about SB 914: He considers it a bit of government micromanagement, but he also believes that eight weeks marks a good stage in puppies' development.
"Between six and eight weeks, there's big growth," Graham said.
SB 914 stems from concern about Mexican dog-smuggling in which puppies as young as two weeks, many of them sick or unweaned, have been taken to Southern California in suitcases or wheel wells and then sold through newspaper ads.
Buyers and sellers typically meet at gas stations or chain-store parking lots, the San Diego Humane Society said in a letter supporting SB 914. By the time a puppy's health problems are discovered, the seller is long gone.
"The buyer is faced with veterinary costs reaching thousands of dollars," Zachary Shalit, the society's investigations chief, said in a Sept. 14 letter to Schwarzenegger.
In some cases, buyers contract their puppy's disease, such as giardiasis, Shalit said. Microscopic parasites called giardia cause the diarrheal illness.
But Sharon Coleman, president of the nonprofit Animal Council, which lobbies on animal issues, said Kehoe's bill takes the narrow problem of smuggling and creates a broad restriction that could hurt legitimate breeders with healthy pups.
The state Department of Consumers Affairs also opposes SB 914 for its potential to ensnare well-meaning but ill-informed Californians.
"It's important to have animal laws that are significant for real harm done but don't catch too many people in the net who aren't doing something terrible," Coleman said.
About the writer:
The Bee's Jim Sanders can be reached at (916) 326-5538 or
[email protected].
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A 7-week-old basset hound puppy frolics in the backyard of breeder Jeff Graham, who has mixed feelings about the bill: He thinks it's government micromanagement but believes eight weeks mark a good stage in development.
Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer