BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2132
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 2132 (Houston) - As Amended: March 11, 2008
Policy Committee: Water, Parks &
Wildlife Vote: 13-0
Public Safety 7-0
(Consent)
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes protocols regarding the use of hunting
dogs and the posting of trespass signs. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Prohibits a person from removing the collar from a dog without
permission from the dog's owner and with the intent to prevent
or hinder the owner from finding the dog.
2)Requires a court to order a person who violates #1 above to
pay the dog's owner, if it is lost or killed, an amount equal
to the dog's value, and allows the court to order additional
payments reflecting any lost breeding revenues.
3)Requires the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) to consider
adopting regulations to allow the use of one dog per hunter to
aid in the recovery of deer during archery season.
4)Changes the minimum interval for posting private property
trespass signs aimed at hunters from three per mile to one per
one-third mile, and requires these signs to be at least 8.5"
by 11" in size.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor potential costs, if any, to the Department of Fish and
Game (DFG) to develop regulations allowing the use of dogs
during archery season for deer hunters. (Fish and Game
Preservation Fund.)
AB 2132
Page 2
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends there have been several
instances in which the collars of hunting dogs, including
electronic or radio transmitting collars, are removed by angry
landowners, with the intent to prevent or hinder the dog's
owner from finding it. The author also believes the posting
of trespass signs needs to be more uniform in both placement
and size, and that persons who hunt deer with bows and arrows
during archery season should be able, like gun toting deer
hunters, to use a dog to help track a wounded deer.
2)Applicability of Dog Collar Provision . While the author is
concerned about hunting dog welfare and the prohibition
against dog collar removal is placed in the Fish and Game
Code, the prohibition applies to all instances in which a
person removes a dog collar without the owner's permission and
with the intent to prevent or hinder the owner from finding
the dog.
3)Judicial Discretion . This bill requires a judge to order any
person convicted of unlawfully removing a dog collar to pay
restitution to the dog's owner in the amount of the dog's
actual value. To preserve judicial discretion, this bill
should authorize a judge to require such a restitution
payment.
Analysis Prepared by : Steve Archibald / APPR. / (916)
319-2081