This time it's before the California Senate where it will be considered to become law. Your phone calls and email messages to your Senator are needed ASAP to stop AB233!!!
Ranchers, Farmers AND Equestrians should all be concerned with this Bill and the detrimental effects it will have on operations and ability to ride public tails.
Please read the message below from the Back Country Horsemen of California (BCHC) and please take a few minutes to call or write your California Senator! Most have an email message form making it easy to write and ask them to “Vote NO on AB233 and at a minimum, to omit public and private property wording from this bill”. It only takes a few minutes and would help so much:
AB233 was originally put out as a city bill and they added public lands, which BCHC protested. They then removed public lands after a flood of letters, but then put it back in. Then they changed the language from 'horses' to 'animals', thinking we would not check back.
We thank all of you who wrote and asked your assembly person to vote NO!
Unfortunately, it has now moved on to the State Senate. They amended the bill yet again. It still requires the owner of any animal to remove excrement from that animal from any public or private property. This could be very difficult for those with horses in pastures or any animals that graze on large parcels of property whether private or public.
What would happen when cattle drives are held to move cattle from one pasture to another? Also, it does not address goats, sheep and cattle routinely used to graze land for fire abatement.
This bill was originally written to cure an issue in a small central valley rural town where a horse trail crossed near a school path where children walked to school. It has now become way more and covers all animals on public or private property.
The amended text changes are as follows: Red = changes made in Assembly Blue = changes made in Senate "AB233 as amended, Wilson. Local Government: streets and sidewalks Public or private property: disposal of horse manure animal excrement"
Existing law generally regulates the governance of local agencies and defines a local agency to mean a county, city or city and county.
This bill would require authorize a local agency to adopt an ordinance requiring the owner or person responsible for a horse an animal to collect and dispose of any horse manure animal excrement deposited by that horse animal on public or private property. The bill would declare that these provisions are declaratory of existing law. (meaning an effort by the Legislature to provide retroactive effect to a change in the law made after the original statute's enactment).
PLEASE write or call your State Senator for your area and ask them to vote NO on this bill and tell them we want public and private property wording omitted from this bill. Time is of the essence since they may have a 3rd reading and vote next week.
If you do not know how to contact your State Senator look here: https://findyour rep.legislature.ca.gov
Text of the bill can be found at: https://legiscan.com.text.AB233
Please do this NOW while you're thinking about it!
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