Politicians think they are invincible. The two that wrote and passed CA SB861 thought that. Both were taken out by the voters in the primary elections in 2006. SB861 allows cities, towns and counties to enact their own breed selective legislation which is prohibited by California law.
The general public is uneducated and ignorant to what their elected officials are doing. They just go about their daily life thinking everything is hunky-dory. They are too busy making money and taking care of their family to be bothered by politics. They find out too late, when the animal control (AC) officer is banging on their door, and their animals are being carted off to the shelter and they get a citation and they must appear in court. The general public thinks because their elected official says it's right then it’s right.
Knowing how politicians think, I could walk into anyone's office and tell them I had a ton of votes behind me and a pocket full of money and
I would have them salivating out of both sides of their mouths. They couldn't get to session fast enough to get my bill on the record. They get that "feel good" feeling and they can tell the voters they did something for them (we all know that they are in office to do for themselves). The votes promised might be questionable but the money is real. They think “if I get more money for my next campaign I can get re-elected to this cushy job - at taxpayers expense and great medical at taxpayers expense”. The problem is there are more voters who are against the bill and they will go to the polls and vote.
Educated voters put FEAR into a politicians’ heart and mind. An estimated 61% of the people in this county own animals, our job is to educate them and get them off their "dead anus'" and get to the polls and vote. We don't have the money these "special interest groups" have but we do have the vote. As soon as we start taking some of these politicians out of office (California seems to think different) the others will start to take notice - listen to my constituents or get taken out of office and my nice cushy job - at taxpayers expense. Yet some never learn.
Money is easy to follow, you just have to pull up them "Campaign Declaration". Every politician in office or running for office must file these declarations. It shows where their money is coming from and how much they spent running for office or re-election. You just have to know what you are looking for and what you are looking at.
California is not "dead" yet, they maybe on a respiratory but they are not dead. They have a bigger and harder job to get the majority of the Assembly to vote against AB1634.
These Assembly people must be taught to realize that the threats of losing ALL of the "Dog Shows" are not idol threats. The loss of the Long Beach show alone will cost the State over 21 million dollars in revenue. Loss of the other shows will put a big dent in the General Tax Fund of California.