California Lawmakers Chase Unicorns While Real Crises Mount

As typhus hits Los Angeles, wildfires incinerate our cities, and our water infrastructure deteriorates, our state legislators more about gene-edited pets.

From Legal Insurrection

Posted by Leslie Eastman

In perhaps one of the most bone-headed legislative moves in the history of this country, California lawmakers wasted time debating whether gene-edited “designer pets,” including glowing rabbits and unicorns, should be sold in the state.

This effort is especially troubling, as the state faces far more immediate crises (e.g., homelessness, wildfire risks, deteriorating water quality and infrastructure) that are far more serious than the prospect of fluorescent pets.

At least the state Senate had the sense to halt the inanity.

Proposed legislation to protect animals from “Frankenstein”-like medical experimentation died in the state Senate on Thursday, and supporters blame election year politics for its demise.

Assembly Bill 1382 by Assemblymember Leticia Castillo (R-Home Gardens) would have banned the sale of genetically modified animals in California, such as glow-in-the-dark rabbits and horned “unicorn” horses.

While the business of cosmetically modified, futuristic-looking pets remains in its infancy, animal rights groups worry that eventually the creatures will be created, sold and later discarded in crowded municipal shelters.

Castillo’s bill passed unanimously in the Assembly earlier this year and sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee in June with bipartisan support.

Promoters of this legislation are blaming politics for its demise.

First introduced by Assemblymember Leticia Castillo of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the bill passed unanimously in the State Assembly earlier this year and advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support.

Animal welfare advocates blame politicking for the bill’s demise.

“It’s my belief that there is some kind of political game going on,” Michelle Kelly, chief executive of the nonprofit welfare organization Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation, told the LA Times.

“Why would anyone not want to move forward with this bill?”

One group challenged the proposal, questioning whether it would actually provide any animal welfare benefit.

That organization, Pet Advocacy Network, submitted comments in the Jan. 16 version of the bill analysis to say the legislation would undermine current law and consumers’ ability to choose.

“[This bill] would override existing science-based regulatory determinations, disrupt lawful commerce, reduce consumer choice, and set a troubling precedent for banning regulated products based on aesthetics rather than evidence, all without providing any measurable animal-welfare benefit,” the group said, “AB 1382 would open the door to banning regulated products based on aesthetics or perception rather than science.”

California truly has more pressing issues than glowing rabbits. Homelessness, which has directly led to wildfires and typhus in the state, remains a serious issue.

In fact, one unhappy mother noticed this particular problem when she dropped off her son at UC Berkeley.

The California Post visited the area Wednesday and observed numerous tents and makeshift shelters packed closely together near a Tesla service facility, along with significant amounts of belongings and debris surrounding the structures.

Some areas appeared to have limited space for pedestrians, while tarps, personal belongings and other materials were spread throughout the encampment.

The scene comes as Berkeley faces mounting pressure over its handling of homeless encampments, including a long-running legal battle over the camp at the intersection of Harrison St. and Eighth St.

Another problem is California’s aging water infrastructure, which is becoming a serious issue for other states.

California isn’t doing its part to avert the Colorado River crisis by upgrading its aging water infrastructure and is instead spending billions on pet projects, Wyoming Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman said Monday.

“It’s because they do stupid things like spending money on high-speed rail and don’t meet the basic needs of their citizens,” Hageman told Cowboy State Daily.

….California, with a population of 40 million, still relies on water infrastructure dating to the 1960s, when about 16 million lived in the state.

That could saddle Wyoming and other Colorado River basin states with meeting an increasing demand for water against a dwindling supply, she said.

If the issue escalates into a legal battle, probably before the U.S. Supreme Court, California and other downstream states might try going after Wyoming’s irrigation water, Hageman added.

Homelessness and water infrastructure are only two of the many serious issues impacting the Golden State. We don’t need our legislature chasing unicorns.

After all, unicorns will never be a problem in this state. They only exist in Paradise.