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Councilman Warns Brown Against Repeal Of Euthanasia Waiting Period For Stray Pets

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A city councilman on Wednesday called on Sacramento to back down from a threat to repeal an animal welfare law that requires government-run animal shelters to keep stray pets at least four days before euthanizing them.

KNX 1070's Vytas Safronikas reports Paul Koretz warned the City Council that if the Hayden law is repealed, pet owners may find they are too late to save their dog, cat or any other animal companion.

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A repeal of the law would reduce the required time for holding stray animals to 72 hours — a move Gov. Jerry Brown said could save the state around $23 million every year.

"By repealing the Hayden law, we go back to where we were with a law that was written 91 years ago and is really a bad practice, particularly because animals often that are lost aren't claimed by the owners within three days, so it will result in a lot of lost animals being unnecessarily euthanized," said Koretz.

Koretz introduced the resolution during a City Council meeting on Wednesday that put the city on record as opposed to the effort.

The law is currently under suspension due to budget constraints that have left lawmakers in Sacramento scrambling to find new sources of revenue.

The Hayden Law was passed in 1998 by then-state Sen. Tom Hayden in an effort to make California shelters more accountable and provide owners of lost pets with more time to recover them.

The resolution is scheduled to be heard in the City Council Personnel and Animal Welfare Committee on March 13.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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