Volume 45 - No. 45
November 05, 2015
by lyle e davis
They are out there most every weekend. Saturdays and Sundays.
While you and I are probably watching football games . . . or shopping . . . or playing games with the kids or grandkids . . . they are out there . . . often under a broiling sun . . . sometimes with a chilly wind . . . sometimes with some damp weather to contend with. What makes these people give up a good portion of their weekends to spend time walking a protest line?
Because they want to save the lives of thousands of dogs; because they hate Puppy Mills and the way they treat dogs, keeping an assembly line of female dogs, pregnant with new litters that they can take away from the mommy dog, often before properly weaned, and sell to pet stores throughout the nation, because they care. Deeply. Their efforts have paid off.
In October 2013 when the Oceanside City Council voted the first time to enact an ordinance similar to the one in the city of San Diego, it was shot down by councilmembers, Jerry Kern, Gary Felien and Jack Feller.
At this time SPOT Rescue (S.P.O.T Rescue (Saving Pets One at a Time), located in Oceanside, CA.) decided to focus more on Rescue and Lobbying for a ban, so Leslie Davies and Rebekah Snyder, both from Oceanside, and Karen Clayton-Gregory, from Spring Valley, but who drove to Oceanside for 18 months to protest until the law passed, and Robert “Rob” Wanta formed Southern California Companion Animal Defenders. That’s a mighty big mouthful to say . . . or remember. So they developed an acronym, SCCAD. Still not the best name for branding purposes . . . but it seems to have worked thus far. SCCAD is a volunteer-based organization committed to making changes to our companion animal laws.
They were determined to help elect Chuck Lowery, a strong supporter of animal rights, and remove Gary Felien from office They campaigned in Oceanside and greatly assisted with the election of Chuck Lowery to the council in November of 2014, which, indeed, removed Felien from
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office. They now had a new majority in office, all of whom suported anti-puppy mill legislation. National City had enacted a ban on pet stores in 2013. Now the momentum began to move northward. In July of 2014 the city of San Diego enacted an ordinance prohibiting the sale of animals at retail stores within the city’s city limits.
In January of this year, with the strong support of the new majority of Mayor Jim Wood, Deputy Mayor Chuck Lowery and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez, the Oceanside City Council voted in favor of the ordinance, saying that commercial breeders, or puppy mills, are inhumane and contribute to pet overpopulation. It took effect last September and is being enforced. The only store in Oceanside that
Stand for the Ban! Continued on Page 2
sold puppies commercially, Oceanside Puppy, owned by David Salinas, should be closed very soon or become humane and abide by the law - their choice.
In June of this year San Marcos officials extended a ban on retail pet stores for 10 months, as it crafts more permanent regulations of the stores. The City Council voted 5-0 during a special meeting on June 12 to