ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has no alignment or affiliation with any other entity.

 

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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: November 2006

Tethering restrained in Scotland, California

 

The Animal Health & Welfare Scotland Act, taking effect on October 6, 2006, increases the potential penalty for cruelty to a fine of up to £20,000 plus a year in jail; authorizes animal health officers, state veterinary officers, and Scottish SPCA inspectors to warn suspected violators and initiate animal seizure proceedings; restricts tethering dogs; and prohibits docking dogs' tails. "Let us hope that the new obligation on animal owners will mean no more animals kept in conditions which are barely tolerable," Advocates for Animals spokesperson Libby Anderson told BBC News.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 27, 2006 signed into law a ban on keeping a dog tethered for longer than three hours. "The legislation, by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), takes effect in January 2007. It makes exceptions for dogs tied to running lines and pulleys, used for hunting or herding sheep or cattle, and those staying in campgrounds," explained Los Angeles Times staff writer Nancy Vogel.

Earlier, on September 18, Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill increasing from $5,000 to $25,000 the fine for killing sea otters, other marine mammals, or other fully protected mammals, and requiring kitty litter bags to carry a warning that cat feces flushed down toilets can spread toxoplasmosis gondi, a cat parasite that kills sea otters. Although the full toxoplasmosis gondi reproductive cycle occurs only in cats, many species can carry it, and it is most often transmitted by consuming the meat of an infected animal.