MAILBAG - May 3, 2007

Spay ordinance sure to start problems

As a responsible owner of an American Kennel Club registered- and Orange County-licensed pure-bred show dog, I find that the proposed ordinance crosses the line and has so many holes as proposed it looks like Swiss cheese (“H.B. to consider spay mandate,” April 19). Let me try to surmise as follows.

First off, the ordinance is trying to regulate “irresponsible” pet owners. Yet, those who do not register their pets will continue to not do so. If they do not license the animal, then how can you control if they spay or neuter the animals? How will you monitor it — look over the fence and deputize a neighbor?

I think our police force has better things to do with our taxpayers’ money other than hunting down the irresponsible pet owners. This is the same stupid mind-set like gun control — the legal and caring people will comply, yet the rogue folks will still persist, and nothing has been accomplished but to incur needless costs to citizens and government overlay at the taxpayer’s cost, yet the problem still is there.

As in our case, I will be “mandated” to neuter my dog now, and when he reaches his show peak I cannot breed the eunuch thanks to knee-jerk government oversight and imposition on my “personal property.” Where will government intervention on my private property stop? Big brother is looming, and I think we have more urgent issues to address in this city.

Cost is another issue. Who will reimburse me for the cost? The money required can be used by a responsible owner to augment pet-care costs rather than placate this jaded agenda and government intervention. Rather than mandating this, perhaps a better approach would be to offer incentives for owners.

I feel very strongly in terms of caring for strays and have donated food and other items to the shelter at Huntington Beach and Seal Beach, but this proposal is so out of whack and should be shelved until a more prudent approach is taken despite the special interests of Save Our Strays. Trust me, you are opening up a hornet’s nest with “responsible” pet owners on this matter.

DREW KOVACS

Huntington Beach

Fix potholes before fixing cats and dogs

Our City Council seems to be preoccupied with anything other than its job. Let me remind everyone that we elect them to manage the city functions. Once they have successfully done that, I can well see them taking on ancillary duties. But as long as we continue to have torn streets, drains that flood with the rains, alleys riddled with impassable ripples and the constant delayed construction like Home Depot’s, their attention is focused (or perhaps not at all) on the wrong priority.

Our streets are marked by endless construction on Ellis Avenue, Edwards Street, Newland Street, Bushard Street, Magnolia Street, Brookhurst Street, Gothard Street, 1st Street Huntington Street, Atlanta Avenue and now Adams Avenue. Rather than looking for ways to spend money we don’t have on signs to find Huntington Beach ($315,000 on seven signs), I suggest we just say look for our orange “construction” signs. We could use these “extra” funds to speed completion of the street projects through incentives to the contractors.

Council members stand ready to give us admirable public service. And yet, they reward us with laws that would have us pay to have all our pets spayed, neutered and implanted with microchips. Why? Because they can. Every dog, cat and rabbit (thanks to Councilwoman Cathy Green) would be mandatory targets along with the needed fines for enforcement. Coming from either city coffers or our own pockets, we will pay for the false pretense placed before us.

Only Councilman Don Hansen had some sense of priority when he said, “I think when it comes down to enforcement, the police chief’s going to look at us and go, ‘Do you want me to chase the murderers or the cats?’ ” Councilman Keith Bohr’s reply shows the lack of basic understanding. We will be billed for the enforcement if we do not do it on our own. Please remember that we paid the city $433,000 last year for services.

Our tax dollars go to useless projects, while street maintenance suffers like that of Goldenwest Street. There is no effort to prevent rupture and potholes through proper slurry operations nor is there an apparent comprehensive resurfacing program. Instead, we get “feel good” presentations (global warming), endless increases in new projects (trains) to spend our taxes, and efforts all that have no bearing on this city’s efficient management.

ROD KUNISHIGE

Huntington Beach