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I am writing and signing this petition as both a private citizen and an animal rescue advocate and would like to express my extreme concern for the lack of information being considered in SB24-045

First, there are no medical professionals' opinions being considered in this matter. Juvenile spaying/neutering is inhumane and comes with risks of lifelong complications for puppies including higher rates of cancer, poor muscle tone, incontinence, and poor bone density, particularly in larger breed dogs. None of this is considered in the bill.

Second, the wait times for vet appointments are already so extended that there’s current legislation being considered that allows Telehealth visits for veterinarians. I cannot stress this enough: more dogs and cats will die in shelters strictly due to this additional and unnecessary legislation because rescues will be waiting on vet appointments. The 2018 regulation requiring spaying/neutering with the health exemption caused the cost of spaying/neutering in Colorado to skyrocket; currently, a spay or neuter in Colorado for a puppy is anywhere between $250 and $900; in bordering states, it’s $75-$150. Many rescues and shelters will be forced to perform these procedures in the originating state of the pets and not with Colorado vets if this passes -- a significant loss of revenue for Colorado veterinarians.

Lastly, and of utmost importance, is the blatant discrimination in this bill, not in what it says but in what it doesn’t say: people who adopt dogs from shelters and rescues cannot be trusted to spay and neuter their pets; people who buy dogs from breeders can be trusted to. The regulations were already written such that shelters and rescues have a different set of rules, and breeders and pet stores are free to sell their dogs without any such rules requiring them to have their pets undergo surgery at a premature age. There is currently a small medical exemption that costs rescues a fortune in vet bills, but it allows people who are educated in the risks of juvenile spaying/neutering to have each pet examined for their readiness for spaying/neutering and allow the vet to write an exemption based on the pet’s individual health. That will be removed in this bill for shelters and rescues ONLY.

Breeders and pet stores are still free to sell imported dogs for thousands of dollars without fixing them at all or having a vet see them to write such an exemption. This is discrimination and it’s evident in the lobbying efforts: breeder lobbyists can’t wait for this to pass because they know it will push people who would have otherwise rescued dogs over to breeders because breeders don’t have the health risks associated with juvenile spaying/neutering.

Why are rescue and shelter pets and the citizens who support them being treated as second-class citizens? If this legislation is indeed necessary for the welfare of animals, then it should be applied to all licensees under PACFA -- shelters, rescues, pet stores, AND breeders; if it doesn’t, then it’s either discriminatory, unnecessary, or just blatant ignorance.

If you care about this please sign and share this petition and submit a written testimony with your reason directly to the legislators by Sunday 2/25/24 here: 
Official written testimony to legislature

Search:
"By hearing item": House Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources SB24-045
Meeting Date and time: Monday 2/26/24 at 1:30pm