Posted: July 6, 2009, 5 a.m. EDT
California Senate Bill 250, a measure that seeks to require spay or neuter surgery for most of the state’s dogs and cats, recently passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee by a vote of 6 to 4.
The bill will now be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on July 15.
SB 250, by Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez, calls on cat owners to spay or neuter their cats at 6 months of age if the cats are allowed to roam at large. The bill also requires the sterilization of all dogs at 6 months of age, unless the owner gets an unaltered dog license.
The bill has been amended to authorize local governments to use existing procedures to issue the intact dog licenses or to charge a fee for procedures related to the issuance, denial or revocation of unaltered dog licenses. In addition, unaltered dogs used in legal hunting activities would be exempt from being cited.
The sterilization of dogs found to be at-large continues to be a requirement under the bill.