News Item:

New California Legislation Requires Pet Owners to be Microchipped
Los Angeles Times
By Rufus Leaking, Times Staff Writer
12:01 AM PST, April 1, 2006

Sacramento, CA - In what is thought to be a first California Assembly Member
Ridley-Thomas has proposed that all California pet owners be microchipped,
rather than the pets themselves. A rider to the current AB 2862, which
requires that pet owners purchasing live animals provide the pet store with
their identification so that their live animal purchase and ownership could
be tracked by the government, the proposal would require that pet store
owners insert the chip in the pet purchaser immediately upon completion of
the pet purchase.

"I don't know how they expect us to get our customers to sit still for
this," said Scott Solar, owner of Amazon Reptile Center in Montclair. " I
mean that literally, too. My guys have spent all day practicing on each
other with the chip guns and they really hurt," he added, holding up a
forearm with a dozen purplish bruises. "And they really need to do some more
testing on the chips, too, because I accidentally stuck my arm under the
scanner at Ralph's and they tried to charge me for a couple gallons of milk
and some feminine hygiene spray."



Privacy experts have been slow to respond to California's push to track pet
owners rather than pets, and completely missed AB 2112, the bill requiring
owners of the rock album 2112 by the 70s Canadian band Rush to
register and take mandatory drug tests. After the bill was signed into law
last week by Governor Schwarzenegger, fans of the band could be seen waiting
in line for the bathroom at Tower Records in Los Angeles, hoping to submit samples and
be early compliers with the new legislation.

Asked what reason the state of California had to require such detailed
records about pet owners and their movements, Assembly Member Ridley-Thomas
said, "If you have ever owned a goldfish, hamster or rabbit the government needs to
know, and our agents need to be able to find you and your pets at all times.
We need to be able to enter your home at any time, with no notice, to
make sure that you are keeping your pets according to the standards that we
see fit. After all, we are the government and we know what's best for you
and your pets."

Ridley-Thomas has been seen lately holding strategy sessions with AB 2110
author Assembly Member Loni Hancock, who hopes her legislation will stop
farmers and ranchers from using dogs to control designated pest species by
making it a felony. "This state should be doing everything it can to protect
rabbits; after all, they are an indicator species on the environment, the
latest data my office shows is that the rabbit population is in a dramatic
downward spiral, and it's common knowledge that their reproductive rate is
notoriously slow, spotty at best. My experts have told me it will be years
before the rabbit population has rebounded enough to come close to the
numbers we have had in past years. We are also working hard on resolving the
snap/trap mouse mauling issues, but that will be covered in our next
legislative session."

Both Assembly Members will be attending Pamela Anderson's book signing at
the PETA headquarters in San Francisco at the end of April, followed by the
annual A.L.F./E.L.F. co-sponsored Arbor Day Tree Spiking Social in Big Sur on April
28th, and afterward will spend the summer touring with the String Cheese
Incident.

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