Today I received an email from the Humane Society of the United States revealing Governor Schwarznegger's newest attempt to fix California's fiscal mess on the backs of the ones who really have No Say: Sheltered Dogs and Cats.
Quoting from the Humane Society email:
Urge California Lawmakers Not to Make Sheltered Dogs and Cats Victims of Budget Crisis
Dear Larry,
As California faces a $24 billion budget deficit, state leaders have only days to figure out which critical services and programs will be sacrificed to make up the difference. We need to make sure animals are protected.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has again proposed to suspend the "animal adoption mandate," which would reduce the holding period for stray dogs and cats in the state's municipal animal shelters by three days. The savings generated by suspending this mandate is a paltry 0.1 percent of the $24 billion deficit. These funds are the only state dollars that presently go to assisting local governments with the costly problem of pet overpopulation.
This holding period is critical to give pet owners more time to locate lost animals and to give unclaimed animals more time to either be adopted or transferred to an animal rescue group.
If these cuts are passed this will lead to the needless deaths of thousands, if not millions, of cats and dogs. No doubt some of them will be pets that were lost and their owners simply did not locate in time. All because Arnuld want to shave 0.1 percent off California's budget deficit. Heckuva job, Arnie, heckuva job.
The Humane Society concludes its email with:
TAKE ACTION
Please take two minutes to make a brief, polite phone call to Governor Schwarzenegger's office at (916) 445-2841
Animals in need of care and protection should not be made to bear the weight for the idiocy and follies of their human counter-parts.