Governor gets an A grade from animal rights group

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Despite vetoing a bill banning pets from motorists’ laps, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earned an A on the annual report card put out by the animal rights organization PawPac.

The San Francisco-based group gave the governor good grades for his position supporting bills that prohibit the slaughter of sick cows, improve funding of spay-neuter clinics and boost protection of wildlife. (In the photograph above, Schwarzenegger tours the Nash Dairy in Selma, near Fresno, in 2006.)

Eleven state legislators received A+ grades, including Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), who tried unsuccessfully to push through a bill requiring most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered.

An F grade was given to 17 lawmakers, all Republicans, for their votes on the targeted bills, including state Sen. Mark Wyland (R-Escondido). Wyland said he voted against a bill allowing a check-off on income tax filings to fund spay-neuter programs because the filings have become too cluttered with such boxes dedicating money to causes. He was dinged for voting against two global warming bills.

‘I believe we have to reduce emissions but many of the bills we see are unworkable, damaging to the economy and don’t solve the problem,’ he said. Wyland said the grade does not accurately reflect his feelings for animals. ‘I love pets,’ Wyland said. ‘I’ve had dogs for many years.’

-- Patrick McGreevy