The Humane Society of the United States, with nearly 1.3 million members and supporters in California, reacted to the veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of four separate pieces of humane legislation, issuing this statement by The HSUS’ California Senior State Director Jennifer Fearing.
“The Humane Society of the United States is very disappointed that with four strokes of his pen accompanied by dubious explanations, Governor Schwarzenegger wiped out nine months of effort to produce common-sense legislation aimed at protecting animals and consumers. Bills with strong bipartisan support and little-to-no opposition were gunned down by the lame duck governor, whose record on animal protection throughout his tenure has been spotty at best.”
During his last act of legislative review, the governor vetoed:
- Assembly Bill 1656, by Assemblymembers Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, and Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, would have mandated labeling of animal fur on clothing apparel.
- Assembly Bill 2012, authored by Assemblymember Ted Lieu, would have upgraded criminal penalties for animal neglect.
- Assembly Bill 2411, authored by Assemblymember Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, would have required informational disclosures to consumers of pet insurance.
- Assembly Bill 2743, by Assemblymember Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, sought to prohibit landlords and tenants from requiring cats to be declawed or dogs devocalized as a condition of tenancy.
The governor also enacted Senate Bill 1345 by Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, over the strong objections of the humane community. SB 1345 allows for the continued import of products made from inhumanely killed kangaroos from Australia.
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