AB 1634: Is it good for California?
By T.E. Houston, PhD

Quick Facts:

•    What is the dog population in California?

Estimates based on 40% of households or based on licensing data (10-20% compliance) puts the dog population at 8-10 million.

•    What is the relative percentage of dogs impounded in shelters to the total population?

Based on data from the Veterinary Public Health (VPH) section, for 1998, the last year of nearly complete data, 500,000 dogs were processed.  For a population of 10 million this is approximately 5% of the dogs.

•    What is the relative percentage of dogs euthanized in the shelters?

Based on data from VPH, from 1998, just over 300,000 dogs were euthanized.  This represents approximately 3% of the dog population.

•    What exactly is included in the euthanasia numbers?

We do not know what is being included, dogs owner surrendered for euthanasia, dogs too sick/injured, dogs with behavior problems.  Just how many of these are adoptable?  We do not know.

•    How many dogs are owner surrendered?

Roughly 25% of dogs coming into the shelters are owner surrendered, these are dogs that HAD homes.  Reasons:  moving, too much work, too old, too sick, not enough room, etc...etc.  THIS fact is something that should be addressed!

•    Do we have complete and quantifiable data of intakes in the shelters?

The data from VPH is not complete.  Since 1998 there has been an increase in non-compliance (nearly 25%) of counties to a state mandate of reporting.

 

California Healthy Pets Act (AB1634) introduced by Assembly Member Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) would require all dogs and cats in the state to be spayed or neutered by 4 months of age.  Exceptions to this regulation would be for working police dogs, service dogs, dogs/cats registered with a recognized kennel club, or a dog/cat that has medical issues which a veterinarian states would compromise the animals life.  The bill claims this would help solve California’s purported pet “overpopulation” problems and help to reduce the number of animal bites, particularly dog bites.  Information on the Act’s website states that almost 1 million unwanted and abandoned dogs and cats enter the California shelters each year.  Before making any conclusions on the Act, it is important to ascertain all the information and data put forth and understand what the actual situation is. 

Data from the California Department of Health Services, Veterinary Public Health (VPH) section indicates a very different scenario.  The number of dogs and cats entering the system has been declining since 1973.  For discussion, just the intake of dogs coming into the shelter will be evaluated. (Figure1).   While one of the major problems is a lack of compliance by the counties in reporting data to VPH, particularly since 2000, a reporting that is a state mandate, the overall trend is a decline in the intakes to the shelter. 

What do the numbers mean? 

When it is stated some X number of dogs have entered the shelter for a given year that number includes a lot of variables.  As an example, since 2005 is referenced in an article in the Madera Tribune, let’s look at this.  In 2005, 308,203 dogs entered the system.  These are dogs captured by animal control (about 45%), dogs owner surrendered (another 25%), those dogs the public brings in (another 25%) and those dogs that are impounded for quarantine due to bite incidents and dogs transferred from another facility (about another 5%).  The distribution varies with the year.  What is important is the disposition of these dogs after they are in the system, so the actual number of dogs may differ.  For 2005, 293,142 dogs were “processed”.  Approximately 39% of the dogs were euthanized, about 20% were reclaimed by their owners, another 30% were adopted, and some 5% were transferred.  Along with a smaller percentage of dogs that escaped/stolen or died from other causes. 

What is observed from the graph is that impounds have declined over the 30 years, while euthanasia has remained fairly relative at about 50%.  The surprising aspect of this data is the relative steady state of reclaims and adopted animals.  What can be gleaned from this information?  That something is actually working, in that fewer dogs are entering the system for varying reasons, increased spay and neutering of the animals, greater attention to the leash laws, basically more over-all responsible dog ownership. 

In 2 separate studies of dogs presented to veterinary clinics in San Francisco and Sacramento (both in 2003), nearly 80% of the dogs were identified as being spayed or neutered.  This compares with a national average of about 70% from a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.  While on a day by day basis those working in the sheltering industry see potentially adoptable dogs that have to be euthanized, with in a larger context, we are making progress in decreasing that number. 

What is missing is the denominator, the total number of dogs in the state.  There are no exact figures on the number of dogs in the community, licensing of dogs is probably only at 10-20% of the dog population.  Urban areas may have fewer dogs per household than suburban and rural communities.  A very rough estimate of the potential dog population may be made based on the households on the state.  California has over 12 million households, and if even 50% of those households have 1 dog, the minimal population would be 6 million dogs.  If based on the licensing being approximately 20%, then an estimate of nearly 8 million dogs may be made.  From this information with approximately 300,000 dogs entering the shelter system in 2005, this represents roughly 4% of the potential dog population. 

The euthanasia rate then is about 2% of the total dog population.  The numbers will depend on each county, and is a function of those counties resources.  A model of the dynamics of the pet population into the shelters nationwide indicates euthanasia rate of about 5%.  (Patroneks paper?  Any one have a link??)

A similar attempt to legislate euthanasia rates was the Hayden Law (SB1785) signed in 1998.  (The Hayden Law SB 1785).  The purpose of the Hayden law was to decrease euthanasia and increase adoption of animals in the state shelter.  The law mandated standardized recordkeeping, improved veterinary care and treatment of the animals.  With the increased financial costs of the law, what has resulted is an increase in non-compliance of reporting.  There is no oversight and no regulatory agency that can or will enforce the laws or clarify the wording. 

Public policy should be made on complete and accurate data, not on emotion and misleading information.  California is a large and very diverse state.  The resources of the larger, highly urban areas are not necessarily available to the more rural counties.  It would be better to look closer at a particular county/city situations that may yield a better picture on what may be going on over time.  We need to factor in local resources, animal control/shelter policies and changes, and the local demographics.  Basically, if humane organizations want to help improve the conditions for dogs and cats over the long haul, work with the individual counties.

With over 20% of the dogs being owner surrendered to the shelters, efforts should be made to address ways of increasing commitments to the animals for the life time.  Many of the rural counties do not have the finances, personnel, or resources to implement programs.  Making available grants for improving the shelters, many of which are old, help develop programs that are directed towards the counties demographics would be a much more effective use of time and money.  AB1634 is not the solution. 

Figure 1:  Dogs in California Shelters: California shelter impounds and disposition for 1973-2006.  Data is not complete, from 1999 on, large noncompliance by counties with state mandated reporting to Veterinary Public Health.  Data is from reports to the VPH section.

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Figure 2:  The California human population shows steady growth over the last 30 years; while impounds of dogs into the shelters has declined*.

 

* Not all of the counties have reported data.

 

Santa Cruz County:  Disposition of dogs impounded for 1990-2006, data reported to Veterinary Public Health. The spike of impounds in 1997 appears to be associated with an increase in dogs that were surrendered by the public. No data was reported to VPH for 2005.

 

Santa Cruz dog euthanized for the years 1990-2002 compared to the numbers statewide (x100 for state).

 

San Diego shelter impounds and dispositions for 1990-2006; based on annual reporting sent to the Veterinary Public Health Section.

Santa Clara County shelter impounds and dispositions for 1990-2005; based on annual reporting sent to the Veterinary Public Health Section. No data has been reported to date for 2006, the circumstances of the large drop in 2002 is not known.