SOME HOWLING ABOUT SPAYING CRITICS SAY MEASURE IS TOO INTRUSIVE.

Byline: BRANDON LOWREY

Staff Writer

Steel bears the mark of a pit bull born to fight -- ears sliced down to nubs.

A backyard breeder likely clipped his ears so they wouldn't get torn off in the dogfighting ring. And if he hadn't been rescued, he could have ended up like dozens of dogs born under similar circumstances -- dead in the ring or abandoned in a shelter, where he probably would have been euthanized.

But Steel was among the lucky ones who managed to get rescued, and on Monday, the 3-year-old frolicked at the Sepulveda Basin Dog Park in Van Nuys.

His new owner, Tami Cassell of Encino, points to him as an example of why she supports a controversial bill that would require most California dog and cat owners to sterilize their pets or face a $500 fine.

"They have no heart," Cassell said of reckless breeders. "These are creatures with feelings -- they can feel pain and abandonment and loneliness."

But while the bill is well-intentioned, it's also an attack on Californians' property rights, opponents say.

"It's just another step of taking away the rights of citizens and the dumbing down of society," said Murriel Oles, the California Federation of Republican Women's acting legislative advocate.

"People are not taking care of their own business. They're expecting the government to take care of everything, and that's a large societal problem that we have in California."

As the rabid debate takes its course, legislators are continuing to soften the language of the bill, which squeaked through the Assembly June 7 by a vote of 41-38. It now awaits the state Senate.

Assembly Bill 1634 -- the California Healthy Pets Act -- would make it illegal to keep a fertile dog or cat more than 4 months old, unless the owner is a licensed breeder. The bill also provides exemptions for show and rescue animals, or those too ill for surgery.

An amendment proposed Monday would push the age to 6 months in response to complaints that the procedure could be dangerous on a 4-month-old pet.

Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita, who voted against the bill, said it would give the state too much authority.

"I believe that this should be handled by local jurisdictions," he said. "What works for Los Angeles County may not necessarily work for Yolo or Butte County, more rural areas."

But bill author and Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, scoffed at the idea that the idea is symptomatic of a Big Brother state.

The government's job should be to soften the impact of problems and come to compromises -- and the hundreds of millions of dollars a year spent on unwanted animals are a problem, he said.

The punishment isn't too harsh, either, he said.

"It's a fix-it ticket that is waivable," Levine said. He brushed off the argument that a tiny minority are at fault for California's stray animal problem.

"I have a hard time believing that a few people create a million unwanted animals a year," he said.

Public interest in the debate has eclipsed just about every other issue that has come up for this Assembly, with groups fighting for either side, Levine said. And it's puzzling to him.

"Part of me finds that entertaining," Levine said. "But part of me says, 'Where are the millions of letters demanding low-cost health insurance?"'

Ed Boks, general manager of Los Angeles Animal Services, proclaimed his support of Levine's bill in a recent blog post.

"Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results," Boks wrote. "AB 1634 provides an elegant response for ending the insanity of escalating budgets and escalating body counts."

But back at the dog park, Encino resident Bryan Page and other dog owners said they want to keep their options open.

"They're our pets and we should have stricter say-so on what we do with our pets," said Page, owner of two unspayed female dogs he's considering breeding.

Tony Dwyer of Thousand Oaks said he doesn't like the idea of the state telling him what to do.

Spaying or neutering a pet "is a good idea, obviously," Dwyer said, noting that his dog is spayed. "But forcing somebody to do it -- it's lame."

brandon.lowrey(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dee Reynolds enjoys Monday afternoon with her dog Titan at the Sepulveda Basin Dog Park.

(2 -- color) Bryan Page displays his dog Karma at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park on Monday. The Encino resident said he wants to keep his options open in regard to getting his dogs fixed.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer