Do you think there should be a limit to bad treatment of animals, if so, what should it be? Should people be able to treat animals however they like if they own them, ie, starve a dog in their basement, behead their cat, etc? If not, what should the limit be?

Ahh, the folly of law: just pass a law, and everything will be better!

Here's a good one: your dog is loose, and it runs a horse onto the highway, where it is struck by two cars and a semi. Who pays?

"California’s like a beautiful, wild girl on heroin ...

Who's high as a kite, thinkin' she's on top of the world, not knowing she's dying even if you show her the marks."

Good to have you back Mickey!

how do you render aid? you back over them to make sure they are dead... [it's a JOKE people]

but lets talk responsibility here. Isn't it the OWNER'S responsibility to look after the welfare of their pet? Then it should be the owner that bears the cost of failing to do so, even the emo. cost. I almost had an ugly accident once where my ex-wife grabbed the wheel because there was a dog in the road. I steered around the dog anyway, but she had no response to my yelled comment: "you'd rather kill me, your sister and yourself, and another motorist, to POTENTIALLY save a dog?" She had shoved the steering wheel away from the dog you see, and in to oncoming traffic.

It's not a like to kill animals, it's a basic assignment value of human life above them, a decision you have to make. Having a stupid law in the back of your mind that causes you to hesitate one moment, or swerve to avoid? Well how is mister sushi-for-brains legislator going to compensate the mom in the SUV that you swerve into when her daughter dies so that you could miss a dog that might be a stray? Animals are pretty smart, they will usually get out of the way if you let them. Second gussing their instincts is what usually causes the problem.

And individual geese? Have a short lifespan, they weren't here first.

Our government is California is impressively incompetent. The state with the biggest economy by far and we can't pass a budget because of the stupid supermajority budget requirement that allows a small block of legislators to hijack the process. Our legislators waste their time with inanities like this when we have real problems - a huge budget crisis, protracted drought, illegal immigration, crappy schools. Then we have the retarded initiative process where morons pass stupid, expensive, wrong-headed, and morally bankrupt initiatives all the time just because supporters run good commercials for them. I had some hope when Arnold was elected; a generally sane, personally popular moderate like him couldn't do much to address the state's problems. And after him we'll have some Democratic wuss a la Gray Davis to run the state. California is ungovernable and needs a new constitution.

It's a good thing we have the weather, food, wine, and other activities we do here.

My wife wants to move back to California (where she is from). This is just another reason I don't wish to move there. I like the weather, I like the ocean, What I cant stand is California's politics, these stupid laws that make absolutely no sense to anyone except the dumb ass legislator who created it. I dont believe the other legislators who vote on this stuff understand it. They just do it for...ok, Biff I voted for your stupid bill, now vote for mine...

California, you people need to clean house in Sacramento, get rid of all your legislators and vote for people with:

Common sense, who dont vote to cripple your egg farmers and making motorists stop on a freeway because some dog wandered on it and got killed.
What is your in the middle lane of a 5 lane highway? Do you think for a moment I am stopping on a freeway with people driving 85-90 miles an hour go out into the lane to drag a dog, who might/might not have rabies, who may bite my hand off, while trying to avoid several hundred cars buzzing by....???? These people who initiate these types of laws beget additional problems than they solve...save a pet, make a motorist stop to render aid...cause a 5 car pile up trying to save a dog and kill 5 to 10 human beings.

a sense of fiscal responsibility... I want to have representatives who know that this is not their money (our taxes) that they can just waste.

are not activists who only wish to propagate their own twisted agenda regardless of others. This type of person doesn't care about you, they care about animals more than you, a mouse (Ms Pelosi) they dont care about your business, they dont care about anything but their own agenda.
This would include the stupid federal bill like the one where all toys have to be tested for lead... a more simpler solution? Ban toys from china or make it a law that all toys from china must be tested and make them pay for it!!

common sense people....

"Why don't we outlaw airplanes that kill geese? Weren't the geese here first?"

Cockroaches were here 400 million years before the geese showed up. Making it a felony to step on a roach is probably next on Ms Ferdin's agenda.

Here in Wisconsin, a farmer whose livestock gets through the fence and out on the road is liable for any damages to vehicles that hit it, as well as injuries to the occupants. The only compensation the farmer gets comes from any salvaged meat and/or from the rendering plant where the battered carcass is taken. What to do about dogs and cats that get hit is pretty much left up to the conscience of the motorist.

In parts of the Kiamichi National Forest in Oklahoma, the highways have signs that say FREE RANGE. There are no fences, and cattle wander across the road at will. Motorists who collide with them pay damages to the livestock owners, and get their own cars fixed and injuries treated.

Maybe California could just declare all parts of the state free range. Get back to its Wild West heritage. See if that works better on the freeways than the Wisconsin system.

Greetings from Waikiki, Amy!

I thought that the government in my homeland of Canuckistan was overly involved in the lives of its citizens but now I see that it's nothing compared to what's going on in California!

Remember the original rugged spirit of the early California settlers? Clearly the dodgy bureaucrats were delayed on a later wagon train. Now that they're there and have infested themselves in seemingly every nook & cranny of your lives, I wonder if more [legal] citizens are leavin' than arrivin'?

I had an uncle in southern Ohio who raised cattle on a farm next to US23, a fairly busy (not like I35, Momof3 will know of what I speak) 4 lane divided highway. He had a steer get loose and was hit by a woman. She stopped, looked at it, got back in her car, and took off. He wondered what her problem was, because the steer did a fair amount of damage to the car and he was responsible because his steer wasn't where it was supposed to be.

Of coarse the owner is responsible for the animal, not the driver, but the vast majority of drivers will try to avoid hitting animals with or without this retarded law. While it would be nice to help out an animal you injured if it is safe to do so, mandating it is crazy.

"Here's a good one: your dog is loose, and it runs a horse onto the highway, where it is struck by two cars and a semi. Who pays?" Radwaste, I would say the horse owner, because if the horse was adequately confined, the dog couldn't have run it onto the highway.

"how do you render aid? you back over them to make sure they are dead... [it's a JOKE people]" My parents spent some time in Japan in the 50s and they said they were told that if you hit a person while driving there, you should make sure they were dead, because if they were injured for life, you were responsible for their support, but if they died, you only had to pay burial costs.

Isn't it the OWNER'S responsibility to look after the welfare of their pet? Then it should be the owner that bears the cost of failing to do so,

Actually, when somebody hits a pet cat that's in the street, the owner should pay for the repair costs and time it takes to get the car to repair of the person who hits the cat, and throw in some extra money to pay for any distress on the part of that person. I don't like to kill things unnecessarily, and it would be upsetting for me to kill or cause an animal pain. I drive with eagle eyes, especially on residential streets, because I realize what irresponsible idiots people are...crossing without looking, bolting into the street, letting their pets and children run into the street...and, the other day, two asshats in dark clothing on a single bicycle riding in the middle of the car lane on a pitch dark street with nary a reflector on the bike. They are only alive and uninjured because I drive like a granny in neighborhoods and saw them at the last minute and jammed on the brakes.

Also, unleashed dogs are a real problem. Two chihuahuas, not on leashes, charged my neighbor on her walk and bit her. She had to get a tetanus shot and could barely lift her arm for a few days -- not a good situation for a mother with a 3-year-old and a 7-year-old and a lot of stuff to carry all the time. She's taken to carrying pepper spray on her walk, but I worry that she'll be accused of something-or-other if she sprays a dog that charges her.

And P.S. She grew up in Texas with animals at home and is now off camping with her kids, so it's not like she's some wilderness-pussy, let alone prissy about house pets.

Remember the original rugged spirit of the early California settlers? Clearly the dodgy bureaucrats were delayed on a later wagon train.

I am not a fan of the Republicans for a number of reasons, but I am even less a fan of the Democrats, some of whom use the word "fascists" to describe the other party -- while trying to control almost every aspect of our lives and make just about everything but breathing illegal.

Ah, nothing like a little political idiocy to liven up the weekend!

Unless you live on a farm and your cats are providing rodent-control services in your barn or you live in a house with a yard fenced by a structure that cats can't jump, your cats should be inside. Outdoor cats have a *much* shorter average lifespan than indoor cats, they're more likely to pick up various bugs (literally and figuratively), they kill songbirds and moles, and, of course, they run out into the street. My two cats are indoor cats, which is one of the reasons that they are declawed. Am I a heartless Yuppie who is overly concerned with the well-being of my inanimate objects? Yes, but my cats aren't going to be running into the street in front of your car. (I got a leash to try to walk 'em, but they only seem interested in sitting on the front porch and looking around.)

Agree with the bill to control bird flocks around airports. Not all of the plane-engines-meet-bird encounters are going to end with the plane's hero pilot posing with his youngest passenger on the cover of People. We got INCREDIBLY lucky with the Hudson River flight; that should be serving as a wakeup call.

Axman- here in Idaho deer and moose that become roadkill are served up to the prisons.

PS- Amy- I just read your column today about people who hoard junk. Thanks for not naming my wife.

PS Amy- I think the hoarding issue would make a great blog item. Your citing of Randy Frost seemed on the money.

My wife wants to move back to California (where she is from). This is just another reason I don't wish to move there. I like the weather, I like the ocean, What I cant stand is California's politics, these stupid laws that make absolutely no sense to anyone except the dumb ass legislator who created it. I dont believe the other legislators who vote on this stuff understand it. They just do it for...ok, Biff I voted for your stupid bill, now vote for mine...

California, you people need to clean house in Sacramento, get rid of all your legislators and vote for people with:

Common sense, who dont vote to cripple your egg farmers and making motorists stop on a freeway because some dog wandered on it and got killed.
What is your in the middle lane of a 5 lane highway? Do you think for a moment I am stopping on a freeway with people driving 85-90 miles an hour go out into the lane to drag a dog, who might/might not have rabies, who may bite my hand off, while trying to avoid several hundred cars buzzing by....???? These people who initiate these types of laws beget additional problems than they solve...save a pet, make a motorist stop to render aid...cause a 5 car pile up trying to save a dog and kill 5 to 10 human beings.

a sense of fiscal responsibility... I want to have representatives who know that this is not their money (our taxes) that they can just waste.

are not activists who only wish to propagate their own twisted agenda regardless of others. This type of person doesn't care about you, they care about animals more than you, a mouse (Ms Pelosi) they dont care about your business, they dont care about anything but their own agenda.
This would include the stupid federal bill like the one where all toys have to be tested for lead... a more simpler solution? Ban toys from china or make it a law that all toys from china must be tested and make them pay for it!!

common sense people....

I have a queer feeling about this. With all those calls to report injured and/or dead animals, the state will need to hire more people to fill the extra demand. And who's gonna run against cats at night to see if they are neutered?

By their nature, those who works in animal control units love animals. Animal rights lobbies also love animals. This is quite incestuous when those groups push laws that need more state employees to enforce.

It's not about pets, it's a simple state money grubbing for the animal nazi movement.

"and make just about everything but breathing illegal"

Don't count on that. Global warming hysterics say that the world will end if CO2 in the atmosphere reaches 0.04%. Every breath you exhale is 4% CO2.

And don't even ask how many global warming gases there are in every fart. Pets & free-range chickens & horses too. Cows are worst.

How freakin' insane. We actually just had this conversation in a mom listserve I"m on here in Austin. The consensus was, if it's breathing, you do not brake or swerve to avoid it. Braking when coming up on something big like a deer lowers your front end, making it more likely to come up over the car and in through your windsheild, killing you. If possible, you aim to hit the hindquarters. For anything else, your life is more important. Squash it.

Keeping an animal safely contained is an owners responsibility, period. It's out and gets hurt, it's their fault. I think the legislators in CA must have been paid off handsomely by someone to clear the state out. I know of no better way to make people leave than pass so many stupid laws.

Now, I love animals, and am sick when I hit one. I will stop, IF IT"S SAFE TO DO SO. And from my experience, calling animal control for dogs that are chasing people and growling does jack shit, so I can't imagine they're going to hop to for a hit animal. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they feel the animals are more important.

And really the concept of rendering aid to animal is insane. A hurt dog or cat is going to bite and attack even it's owner, so definately a stranger. Hell no I'm not risking rabies or some other zoonotic.

By my "if it's breathing" comment, I mean some things like semi tires or other debris can total your car and kill you at high speeds, you want to avoid them. And I'm also obviously not advocating hitting a kid that runs into the street if you can possibly swerve :)

The spay/neuter for outdoor cats law is actually not supported by most animal groups that work with free-roaming and feral cats. Ally Cat Allies are the experts on ferals, and they say that s/n laws do more harm than good for feral cats. Colony caretakers stop feeding the cats so they won't be penalized for not having the cats all fixed. I agree with the sentiment and think that animals should not breed and be bred indiscriminately, but this is a bad law. It's like Mark said, there is no common sense in play.

With all those calls to report injured and/or dead animals, the state will need to hire more people to fill the extra demand.

Hire more people to ignore the phone calls for assistance, you mean.... We call for help with animals here 2-3 times a year only to be ignored.

We pay taxes for the services, there is a department to handle the issues, but are told every time that there is no budget to deal with anything. Loose animals large and small, large roadkill turning to pate on major town roads, you name it. They get paid for their jobs but are never actually seen doing it.

Years ago, I had a boyfriend who hit a cow (a black cow, at night) on a country road somewhere outside of San Antonio. The owner of the cow was liable for the accident, since the cow shouldn't have been out.

As mentioned by momof3, I think many people would probably stop IF it's safe. Really, though, your animals are YOUR responsibility.

By the way, it's skunk mating season. Watch out.

Don't get me started on this insanity! I was appalled when they passed it here in NY and I don't even drive. Just waiting for the day the bus I'm on stops... (just kidding, they'll keep on rolling, the buses rule the city, you don't even want to hit one).

In addition to everything said above, I always wonder how in hell exactly are they supposed to know who the hell the critter belongs to if anyone. Or are we seriously supposed to be obliged to knock on doors until we find them. Gimme a break.

I say keep on truckin', baby. Fat chance in hell the animal whose owners didn't care enough about to keep safe is gonna give the cops your plate number.

Love your advice column!

Just wanted to let you know some info about "free-range" and organic eggs.

http://liberationbc.org/issues/organic