The annual Gavilan Kennel Club dog show at Bolado Park will
return April 30, but with a slightly different feel than past
years
– as its members are trying to rid themselves of all
associations with Hollister businesses due to the city’s mandate
for two dog types to get spayed or neutered.
The annual Gavilan Kennel Club dog show at Bolado Park will return April 30, but with a slightly different feel than past years – as its members are trying to rid themselves of all associations with Hollister businesses due to the city’s mandate for two dog types to get spayed or neutered.
In response to the new Hollister spay and neuter ordinance approved in October of last year, the dog show organizers are telling owners to avoid spending money in Hollister – and move their business to neighboring Tres Pinos, San Juan Bautista or Santa Clara County.
The ordinance was passed as a way to control overcrowding at the Hollister Animal Shelter that is associated with pit bulls and Chihuahuas, which make up a vast majority of seized pets.
“They enacted anti-dog legislation. That’s their right,” Gavilan Kennel Club member Joe Pendry said to the county board of supervisors during a meeting earlier this month. “And we have the right not to support them.”
The ordinance, passed by the Hollister City Council on Oct. 18 in a 3-2 vote, was met with a negative response from dog owners around the area and, notably, members of the Gavilan Kennel Club that holds the event each year in Tres Pinos.
The Gavilan Kennel Club, serving members from San Benito and Southern Santa Clara County, made its position known about shunning the city’s businesses as the council had discussed the ordinance last year, threatening to boycott the city if it was passed.
“We felt that it’s just not good to have a mandatory spay and neuter program,” Gavilan Kennel Club President Katherine Dettmer said. “They overlooked the amount of money we bring to the city.”
The kennel club’s boycott of the city doesn’t come as a surprise for city council members.
“It really doesn’t surprise me – I kind of expected it,” Councilman Victor Gomez said.
Gomez hoped that the council eventually would revisit the ordinance to find a middle ground between the kennel club’s wishes and what the city hopes to do, he said. But owners who don’t breed their dogs still need to spay and neuter them.
“I hope in the future we can reopen that line of communication again,” he said.
The current ordinance allows dog owners who breed their pets to apply for an “unaltered dog certification” for pets over six months of age. Other exemptions include dogs boarded in licensed kennels or businesses that board animals for professional training or resale.
Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia called the ordinance a “done deal” but hoped the kennel club would reconsider its boycott.
“I’m not really surprised, but it’s too bad,” she said.
Councilman Ray Friend called the boycott “petty” and an attempt at “trying to control the issue.”
“I think it’s kind of petty that they threatened us with this,” he said “It doesn’t surprise me. They said they would do it and they were upset.”
Friend continued, calling it “counterproductive” for the city and the club.
The council members weren’t sure what the economic impact would be on the city, but acknowledged there would be some.
