Back in 1998, State Senator Tom Hayden formed a law, known as the Hayden Law, to protect innocent animals from getting euthanized sooner than four to six days after being brought into an animal shelter. Also according to the Hayden Law, the animal shelters would have to be open during weekends and some nights so that people who work would be able to come in to find their lost animals. The bill also wrote that “public and private shelters and humane organizations share a common purpose in saving animals’ lives, preventing animal suffering, and eliminating animal abandonment.”

Now, with an economic crisis going on and the government losing money, Gov. Jerry Brown is doing what he can to make the deficit smaller. Unfortunately, this means cutting $23 million from these shelters and repealing the Hayden Law to make the protected stay for animals a mere three days.

Many people, including me, are outraged by this. I don’t think that it’s fair for the animals or their families that lost pets would only be given three days of shelter before they’re euthanized. Our only recourse is to sign the online petition that would prevent the repeal of the Hayden Law, and I urge you to join me in doing so.

If Brown’s proposed policy is implemented, will the shelters still be required to stay open some nights and weekends for those who work? That policy should remain in place because if Brown is going to cut back the amount of days that the animals can be in those shelters then he shouldn’t cut back hours for the shelters, because the point of the Hayden Law was to protect animals from getting put down too early and that would make it harder for people to try get their animals back.

I know Brown is trying to cut spending, but this is not the way to do it. If pet owners are only given three days to find their lost animals, then micro-chipping should be made cheaper and more accessible in different areas in California. This would cut back the time it takes for employees of the shelters to determine to whom the lost pets in their care belong.

Also I think they should set an age limit for the dogs and cats that you can bring in to the shelters. This way they wouldn’t have so many older pets to try to fit in shelters. If you have an older

animal, you shouldn’t be allowed to bring them in because most people aren’t going to want to adopt an older cat or dog. This could save the state enough money to keep the Hayden Law in place.

Please go to http://change.org/petitions/the-governor-of-ca-do-not-repeal-any-provisions-of-the-hayden-law and sign the petition that will keep lost pets alive.