Pet Bill Neutered

Faced with an onslaught of passionate opposition, a San Fernando Valley lawmaker withdrew a bill Wednesday that would have forced most California pet owners to spay or neuter their dogs and cats.Mike Zapler in the Daily News.

State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, pulled AB 1634 just hours before a key Senate committee vote he was certain to lose.

While the measure is dead for this year, Levine vowed to revive it next year, but in what could be a vastly scaled-back form.

"While I'm disappointed," he said, "I'm optimistic ... we're going to be able to solve the problem."

The move was a clear setback for spay-and-neuter advocates who say a statewide law is the only way to reduce the hundreds of thousands of pets euthanized at shelters each year.