California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed Assembly Bill 241 which would have prohibited any person or entity from having 50 or more intact dogs or cats. He returned the bill with the following veto message:

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 241 without my signature. This measure would make it a crime for any person or entity to own or control more than 50 unsterilized adult dogs or cats for breeding or raising for sale as pets. I support measures designed to prevent animal cruelty and that punish persons engaged in the abuse of animals. However, this measure simply goes too far in an attempt to address the serious problem of puppy mills. An arbitrary cap on the number of animals any entity can possess throughout the state will not end unlawful, inhumane breeding practices. Instead this measure has the potential to criminalize the lawful activities of reputable breeders, pet stores, kennels, and charitable organizations engaged in raising service and assistance dogs.

For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.

System defended

Doug Kelley, director of animal control, defended the system yesterday, arguing that the appeals process is proof that it works.

“The administrative hearing process is there, it’s designed to allow owners to appeal,” he said. “That process worked in this case — the dog, upon further information, was found not to be a pit bull. So, that’s why the process is there.”

Kelley also defended the training animal control officers receive in order to label a dog.

The training is actually a voluntary program that animal control officers must opt into. The checklist to determine if a dog is a pit bull is almost entirely physical characteristics, such as lips, eye color and shoulders. If a dog matches the majority of criteria for a pit bull, then the dog is a pit bull in the eyes of city officials. 

Critics of the system, however, point out that there are dozens of traits that can be applied to several breeds. In many cases, the evaluators are unable to agree on several of the criteria.

Ok, freak me out! I calculated more common criteria with animal number 3 when going through the checklist with each animal!

Here are a couple other links to other articles on this topic.

The Denver Channel

Denver Post