Why Your Dog Might Become A Symbol Of Racial Inequality And Social Injustice
Our neighbor Cisco with his beloved and unlicensed pitbull pooch White Landlady.
Heads up hoodies: now pet owners in Los Angeles County MUST have a license for their pet. As of last week pet owners—–the aim is really at dog owners, must comply with LA County law which says if you don’t already have a license for your dog then you need to cough up $100 bucks pronto if your dog is not sterilized—-a mere $15 if it is.
Now let’s work with this for a second in terms of the less economically “endowed” areas of the County aka poor black and brown neighborhoods: In South Los Angeles alone we’d say there are thousands of dogs—–maybe 10 of ‘em actually licensed. The same could probably be said of East Los Angeles and all parts between.
Fact is, your typical working class Angelino just doesn’t make the investment of obtaining a license for their dog—and in a lot of cases don’t go to the trouble of getting them fixed, either. They just get themselves a couple of badass pitbull pups from the local homeboy who fights and breeds them and that’s that. And they know that within a very short time the hubcaps are guaranteed to be protected and anything else they wanna leave sitting out in plain view for all in their gated front yard.
So there’s a lot of money to be made with this new found venture hatched by the County—an estimated $3 million in revenue to be collected this year alone. Truth is, it’s always been the law just never enforced. But with Los Angeles hurtin’ for cash, they dug deep in the books and dusted off some old regulations that could squeeze out a few more coins for the County. Well they found one.
Point is, economically disadvantaged folks of color are going to be the ones to be hit hardest. They’re just not going to be ready for it. A hundred bucks for each of the four pitbulls lounging around in a neighbor’s yard across the street? We don’t see it. The game plan is the City has a small army of animal regulation foot soldiers—-they’ll be canvassing door to door. The City is already in bed with the Dept. of Water And Power. Meaning, the utility company has turned over its database of residences that are known to have a dog or dogs on the premises. And yes, if you don’t pay up by a certain time they will come and remove the dog from the premises.
So yeah, we’re wondering how this is going to impact dog ownership in the hood. Like, there’s so many poor people with dogs. Lots of them. Are we going to see a drop in dog ownership in poor peeps of color? Wouldn’t that be something? Like, dog ownership becoming the new white privilege. Definitely a possibility. We plan on keeping an eye on the situation to see if there are any outcries of injustice for those who cannot afford the licensing fee for their unaltered dog.
If so, we may have stumbled on our next serious local social cause. The economic disparities between white folks and colored persons who own pooches. Just goes to show, anything can be about race, inequality and politics if you put your mind to it. Gosh we love LA.
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25 February, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Let's back up, put aside the automatic "The man is out to get you" assumptions and take an unemotional view of this.
Owning a pet may be thought of as a "right" but it also needs to be seen equally as a "responsibility".
Licensing is about three things: (1) pet population control; (2) pet vaccination against disease; (3) owner identification in case of loss or harm done by pets.
(1) A pet needs to be spayed or neutered so it does not run loose making puppies or kittens at will. I speak as an animal lover, parent and advocate living in an urban environment. We do not need an upward spiraling wild pet population running loose in our cities. Shelters are overflowing with the unwanted kittens and puppies from pets who re-populate at will. Animal rescue groups are struggling to house and place shelter animals before they are euthanized. There are groups and vets who will spay or neuter pets for significantly reduced rates. So, anyone who truly cares about animals, especially pet owners, should see the need for pet population control. If you refuse to get your pet spayed or neutered, you need to pay an extra $100.00 to help pay for the cost of the loose babies your pet is going to produce!
(2) Pets, especially those that will be around people outside the house and in the neighborhood, must be given their initial and annual shots. Failure to do so is irresponsible and poses a threat to the community. Pets without shots pose as big a threat to Blacks and Latinos as they do to Whites. Poor folks need protection just as much as wealthy folks.
Iif a person or family plans to adopt a pet, they should be prepared to pay to have it spayed or neutered as well as given its mandatory shots. When I adopt my cats, the rescue group from which they come charges $95.00 per pet to cover the cost of shots and spaying/neutering.
At the very least a pet costs $30.00 a month. So, if a family wants a pet, they should plan ahead, save up and be prepared to pay the "up front" costs. If a family cannot afford to care for a pet decently, it should not adopt one.
(3) Pet ownership is a moral responsibility to care for the the pet as long as it is alive not just when it is little and cute. Pet ownership is a legal responsibility to supervise and control it. News reports show that too many pet owners are not sufficiently active and attentive. That is why we hear reports of unattended dogs attacking children and doing major physical harm. The city has an obligation to the community to know who owns a pet and who ism to be held responsible if the pet harms a human being.
So, my point is . . . If you are not prepared to be a fully responsible pet owner, don't get a pet.
The LA law is not unique. In fact, I am greatly surprised that it wasn't put on the books decades ago as it has been on most cities across the nation.
The suggestion that pet licensing represents sort of racial injustice or racial inequality becomes somewhat ludicrous when you consider that Washington, DC, a city where the population and the leadership is predominantly non-White (55% Black + 5% other minorities) has a long-standing pet licensing law that is virtually identical to the one in LA.
Just because you can make something look like a "race issue" does not mean it really is one. This matter does not constitute a genuine race issue.
4 March, 2010 at 7:12 am
SNAP, PAWS, Humane societies, even rescues will lead you to low income vet/care resources….If LA doesnt have them, your SoCal neighboring tri-county and SD county areas do….we want you to do whatever you can to help your pet…it makes the rest of us look responsible too…And responsibility doesnt always come with a price tag when you are willing to get creative. I've managed all these years in Cali (even in LA) to provide for my pets, even rescued kittens (along with intact adults, dozens of them, when they were abandoned by owners of an eviction) when I did not have a job as well as needing to survive with pets while homeless…look for freebies to cut costs, get handy and build that dog house or cat condo, use tupperware or dishes from the 99 cents store (in fact check out Dollar Tree, they have awesome dog toys), and as far as vet care goes…use local services for low in come pet parents, save a bit to get insurance or for that emergency need, and shop wholesale for those higher quality products and food…its worth it in the long run to have a healty pet…saves money in the later years in vet bills…creative shopping, good diet, exercise, and good health are keys to a cheap pet. Freecycle and Craigslist are great resources for freebies too…go to the local library (yes they still exist) and hop ontpo their computers for free. As Tim Gunn once said "Make it work".
3 March, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Hi Kat, thank you so much for your comment. We did a follow up post on low income and free animal sterilization services here in LA County. And the information you provided is most welcome as well.
Yes, “make it work” is the proper mantra in regards to responsibility. Thank you for your feedback again.