Central Coast News KION/KCBALocal Shelters Already Working Around Governor's Plan

Local Shelters Already Working Around Governor's Plan

SALINAS, Calif. - A lot of you are barking about Governor Jerry Brown's plan to let shelters euthanize stray pets in 3 days, instead of up to six.  But Central Coast News learned, shelters can already do that and the money the governor says would be saved is already being held by the state.

The Salinas Animal Shelter is one of the shelters already working around the plan Brown is considering.  Brown wants to cut the number of days a shelter must hold an animal before it's euthanized.  The law says a shelter must hold it 4-6 days, but Brown wants to cut that to three to save millions of dollars a year.  Here's the catch, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suspended Hayden's law several years ago, meaning shelters can already put a stray pet down after three days.

"We evaluate them in that time frame, and after that we determine if they can go into adoption," said Cindy Burnham, Salinas Animal Shelter.

Brown's plan means the state wouldn't reimburse a shelter for holding the pet past three days, something the state's already doing and shelters are working around.

"You know we're collecting them all, trying to working our tails off to get them adopted or transferred to agencies that can help them, but where are the owners?" Burnham

Officials say it's important to make sure your animal has the proper identification.

"It's imperative if you have a pet to get it microchipped, get it licensed, and get it identification, so that if it does by chance come into a shelter, it does have a longer holding period," said Burnham.

Shelter Officials believe if more owners swung by the shelter to look for their pets, chances are less for euthanization.

"For every dog you adopt or cat you save two lives. You saved the life of the animal that you've taken out of that cage and you've saved the life of an animal that gets to go in it," said Burnham.

On Tuesday, Governor Jerry Brown's Office spoke about the reimbursement plan.  Despite the changes, a spokesperson for the governor said it doesn't mean shelters can't continue the waiting period.  It just won't get the money from the state.  The Legislative Analysts Office said the extended waiting period at shelters didn't increase the amount of people coming into adopt.