The county of Riverside, California’s breed-specific mandatory spay/neuter law (BS MSN), which is indeed breed-specific legislation, hasn’t even gone into effect yet, and there are already reports of owners dumping so-called pit bulls in what has come to be known as “dead dog alley,” a stretch of dirt road just inside the limits of the city of Indio, California in Riverside County.   It’s called “dead dog alley” because dogs are dumped there by owners who, in this case, can no longer afford to keep their dogs thanks to Riverside County’s breed-specific mandatory spay/neuter ordinance, and abandon them on the desolate dirt road where they frequently get run over.  

Apparently all the evidence against mandatory spay/neuter wasn’t enough to deter the Riverside Board of Supervisors.   Moreover, the evidence about what works — sliding-scales or vouchers for free spay/neuter, i.e. working with the community — was ignored in favor of punitive legislation which turns once law-abiding citizens, including many senior citizens, into unwitting scofflaws, and puts pets out of their homes.   Nor were the predictions — of owner dumpings and relinquishments, which amount to skyrocketing kill rates, or for the city of Indio, road kill — heeded.   Yes, I sure would like to ask the city of Indio how it feels to clean up the County’s mess.  

The Riverside Board of Supervisors clearly couldn’t have cared less about all the innocent dogs their misguided legislation would kill.   Nor do they seem to care that their ordinance won’t crack down even a little bit on the crime that is the real problem.   Nope, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors decided instead to apply a Band-Aid solution to a gaping wound of a problem, and will have been responsible for the killing of innocent dogs in untold numbers in the process.