January 22, 2009 11:31 AM
Cat ID bill keeps on purring
A bill requiring identification for urban cats, which House Minority Leader Mike May said yesterday may be the dumbest bill of the legislative session, passed through a House committee today with bipartisan support.
Rep. Cherylin Peniston's measure would require cat owners in cities of 100,000 or more to put a tag on or a microchip inside their cats for identification purposes. A few Front Range cities already have similar laws in place, but most don't.
Only 5 percent of cats that wind up in shelters are returned now to owners - a far lower figure than the 40 percent of dogs, which are typically tagged, that go home again. This measure would help reunite cats and families and would reduce the financial burden on municipal animal shelters, which could send cats home quickly rather than holding them for weeks as owners go searching for them, said Peniston, D-Westminster.
Some of the committee members hissed at a provision in the bill that would identify anyone who lets cats hang around on their property as owners of the felines. But Rep. Cindy Acree, R-Aurora, amended House Bill 1019 so that only people who feed cats that frequent their homes can be considered their owners.
Three Republicans teamed with five Democrats in passing the bill onto the House floor. Only Cortez GOP Rep. Scott Tipton and Walsh Democratic Rep. Wes McKinley, who asked several times if property owners could shoot unwanted cats that hang out on their land, opposed it.
"It will bring more cats home. It will reunite them with their owners," said Emily Stone, public affairs manager for the Dumb Friends League.
January 22, 2009
12:09 PM
the_ripper writes:
The state must be in great shape if this BS is all
our esteemed legislature has to occupy their time.
January 22, 2009
12:11 PM
Leah Kelley writes:
It's pretty sad that legislators find it necessary to spend their time legislating common sense and personal responsibility.
If you want to keep tabs on your pet, put a collar and an id tag on it. duh!
On the other hand, keeping the legislators busy with busy work prevents them from really screwing up other things.
January 22, 2009
12:14 PM
Elwood writes:
And how does this reduce the 2009 budget and solve problems in the state today? How much will implementing this cost? Who elected these doofuses into office?
January 22, 2009
12:20 PM
leavemealone writes:
Now we'll just have a bunch of coyotes running around with hundreds of microchips inside their stomachs
January 22, 2009
12:25 PM
william Board writes:
I needed a great laugh today and make sure our government is still operating as status quo.
January 22, 2009
12:28 PM
leavemealone writes:
just a small insight into our government....what a bunch of complete clowns
January 22, 2009
12:33 PM
leavemealone writes:
& we'll have to pass a new law requiring the government to round-up all the urban coyotes to pump their stomachs to retrieve the microchips because they can't digest them.
January 22, 2009
12:37 PM
Andrea writes:
YES! Please pass it! Cats are often allowed to roam off leash outside by their idiotic owners (cats should be kept indoors or leashed outside) which nobody would ever think to allow a dog to do! I know of a couple of cats who hang out in the ally behind my building which is a half block off Colfax and I dunno if they're strays or what, but I'm continually amazed and thankful to see them alive and not flattened on Colfax daily.
I've always chipped and collared all my cats even though they're indoor only and never once has there been a problem.
Props to the lawmakers here!
January 22, 2009
5:39 PM
lincmercguy writes:
I don't see why this is something the legislature is dealing with. Most of the cats who go to shelters are probably strays anyway. Cats roaming around also reduce the rodent population, but of course, you don't want too many cats running around.
I've always put our cats' rabies tag on collars on the cats. They have a serial number, and the vet has my name and address. Easy way to find me. Our cats never go outside anyway.
However, even though I do this anyway, I would oppose any law requiring it as simply unnecessary.
April 22, 2011
6:48 PM
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