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AB 2012 Unanimously Passes Assembly Business & Professions Committee

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 - Yesterday, AB 2012, the Animal Shelter Data Collection Act, authored by Assembly Member Alex Lee (D-San Jose) and sponsored by Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL), passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee with a unanimous vote.

The bill does two important things: 

• Requires the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to collect and make public intake and outcome data from municipal shelters including vaccination, adoption, and euthanasia figures, as it did from 1995 to 2016 before abruptly stopping in 2017. 
• Gives CDPH the authority to contract with a California veterinary school to gather the shelter data in question. 

Advocates and policymakers cannot make optimal decisions about how to allocate funds unless they can identify which shelters are showing the highest euthanasia rates and other adverse outcomes.

This bill will notably give those decision-makers access to information regarding how dogs and cats wind in up in different shelters (taken in stray or relinquished, brought in by local animal control authorities) and what happens to them next (reclaimed by owners, adopted by the public or a rescue organization, euthanized, died, or transferred to another shelter.) 

“I’m grateful for the committee’s passage of our bill AB 2012 which will help direct funding more efficiently to shelters and support informed policy decisions to help pets find their forever homes,” said Assemblymember Alex Lee.

"It is clear that the committee supports the need for transparency from taxpayer-funded animal shelters in order to understand the specific needs of our diverse communities. We have been working for decades to mitigate the state's pet overpopulation crisis. Once again having access to this critical shelter information will help us move forward," said Judie Mancuso, Founder and President of Social Compassion in Legislation. 

AB 2012 will be heard next by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Watch this space for a call to action before the hearing.

Call to Action for Four Bills

Coming Up for a Vote Next Week!

Veterinary care is increasingly difficult to access for the public and animal shelters, including when it comes to spay and neuter services, which are the key to solving California’s pet overpopulation crisis.

AB 2133, which SCIL is sponsoring, will address that situation by allowing registered veterinary technicians (RVTs) to perform cat neuters under the direct supervision of a veterinarian.

The bill will be heard by the Assembly Business and Professions Committee on April 9th.

Please Make Two Calls by Monday, April 8^th at 5PM. Urge them to VOTE YES on AB 2133! 

Assembly Business and Professions Committee:

Chair Marc Berman: 916-319-2023

Vice Chair Heath Flora: 916-319-2009

Many of you heard the story of the nine-year-old girl who had a change of heart while raising Cedar the goat through a junior agricultural program and tried desperately to save him from slaughter. The rules of the state fair holding the auction Cedar was entered into made it impossible for the girl’s family to opt out. Over the family’s protests, Cedar was seized and slaughtered for meat.  

AB 3053 will prevent such tragedies by making state fair rules consistent across the state: All families will be able to opt out of the terminal sale of an animal raised by their child up until the moment the animal is transported from the fairgrounds. In addition, bidders who purchase an animal through a terminal auction will have the option to pick the animal up alive, which is not possible in all cases today. 

The bill will be heard by the Assembly Agricultural Committee on April 10th.

Please call the Committee Chair and Vice Chair by Tuesday, April 9^th at 5PM, and urge them to VOTE YES on AB 3053! 

Assembly Agriculture Committee:

Chair Esmeralda Soria: 916-319-2027

Vice Chair Juan Alanis: 916-319-2022

Current California law gives students the right to opt out of animal dissection assignments, but many students and even teachers are unaware of that right. 

AB 2640 will ensure that students are informed of their right to opt out and require teachers to inform students of the source of the animal being dissected and the dangers posed by exposure to chemicals such as formaldehyde. It will also encourage schools to phase out animal dissection by 2028.

The bill will be heard by the Assembly Education Committee on April 10th.

Please call the Committee Chair by Tuesday, April 9^th at 5PM, and urge them to VOTE YES on AB 2640! 

Assembly Education Committee:

Chair Al Muratsuchi: 916-319-2066

Did you know that companies operating in Spain and Hawaii are trying to figure out how to farm octopus? 

AB 3162 will preemptively ban this barbaric practice in California and prohibit the sale of imported farmed octopus.

Due to their complex mental abilities, octopuses have significant enrichment needs that cannot be met in farming environments. Intensively confining these highly intelligent, solitary animals in unnatural farming conditions increases the likelihood of stress, aggressive activity, and mortality. Such cruelty should have no place in California.  

The bill will be heard by the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife on April 9th.

Please call the Committee Chair and Vice Chair by Monday, April 8^th at 5PM, and urge them to VOTE YES on AB 3162! 

Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife:

Chair Diane Pappan: 916-319-2021

Vice Chair Devon Mathis: 916-319-2033

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Thank you so much,

Judie Mancuso, Founder/CEO/President

Social Compassion in Legislation