So many animals are taken to shelters with only a short time before they are put to sleep. The State of California spends an estimated $300,000,000 (that's 300 Million Dollars) a year housing and euthanizing 500,000 (that's Half-a-Million) unwanted pets each year.
The Spay and Neuter License Plate program could reduce those numbers for both the cost and the lives taken, for a mere $50 a year. Please consider giving a CA Spay Plate as a gift to all animal lovers in your family this year or at the start of 2012.
You can reserve a plate for $10, so the person you gift can decide whether they want it personalized or not. Because the artwork on the plate takes the space of one letter, a personalized plate is limited to 6 characters.
I first wrote about CA Spay Plates in June of 2010. I ordered a new plate with SPCATS for my Ford Focus. I didn't order one for my Maverick because the plate I have is 1973 MAV, which is too long to fit on the CA Spay Plates. However, after my diatribe on the cost to the state and to the animals fell on deaf ears, or eyes in this case, I changed my Maverick's license to MAV 73, which is available, and ordered another CA Spay Plate.
Why am I making such a fuss about this? Because in order for the DMV to accept the Spay and Neuter License Plate as part of its special plate program, the group sponsoring it MUST have 7500 pre-orders by June of 2012. So far they have less than half that amount. They need another 4200 pre-orders in the next six months. I can't believe there aren't 4200 people in the East Bay who couldn't spend $50 to save the State hundreds of millions of dollars.
It absolutely boggles my mind that people here complained about Herb Moniz's salary of $357K, which doesn't come out of their pockets in any way, but are unwilling to do anything about the State of California spending $300 Million to kill innocent dogs, cats, puppies, kittens and bunnies.
Hey, Ms. Bunny, you call yourself Bunny. Where's your license plate? Did you order one with BUNNY on it? The Safe Cat rescue group I belong to now has three Bunny fosters. So we are in the Bunny rescue business too. We all know how quickly bunnies multiply, so the Spay and Neuter program would be especially helpful for reducing unwanted bunny litters and helping older bunnies get adopted from shelters or rescue groups instead of being killed.
Some of you might not want it because you don't like Pierce Brosnan's artwork, or you can't fit your 7-character personalized saying. I don't much like the design of it either and I'd rather keep my 1973 MAV phrase, but I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't put my money and my car where my mouth is.
Where are the Tea Party people here? I know you are here, so why don't you care about saving the State a whopping $300 Million. Maybe reducing pet overpopulation would save only $100M or $50M for starters, but as they say a million here and million there adds up to real money.
The CA Spay Plate program needs another 4200 pre-orders in the next 6 months or it will die, and thousands, no hundreds of thousands of innocent pets will die too because some of you don't care enough to spend $50 to keep unwanted litters from being born.
A few weeks ago I wrote my blog on adopting a senior dog. I wanted to adopt a 14 year old Dachshund from Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, but when I contacted them she had been adopted. So I put in a request for another older Dachshund, this one only 7 years old. She was rescued from a shelter ONE HOUR before she was sentenced to death.
This sweet older dog committed no crime other than being old and unwanted. Fortunately for her, she was rescued and her foster family decided to keep her. I decided that six cats are enough for me (one is a foster and available for adoption). So I am not going to apply for another dog. I bought a bike for exercise instead (more on that later).
I urge anyone who cares about animals, or saving the State from wasting money, to invest in a CA Spay Plate. If you are planning to give an animal for a gift, please consider adopting an adult or a senior cat or dog or bunny.
Safe Cat will be at Petco in Dublin on December 24th. I shall try to bring my foster that was pulled from the Martinez Shelter from the "death" list. Please don't let the CA Spay Pate program die like the animals it is designed to protect.
