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.
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?”
California bill seeks to ban sale of 'unicorns', glowing rabbits and other gene-edited pets https://t.co/ihjghT2pTs pic.twitter.com/gAXEhkPgjb
— New York Post (@nypost) August 20, 2026
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.
I just dropped my son off at @UCBerkeley housing and as we were approaching we saw this behind his apartments. Shame on @CityofBerkeley @CityofAlbanyCA @UCBerkeleyNews pic.twitter.com/sxyhkez5l4
— Lyanne Melendez (@LyanneMelendez) August 19, 2026
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.
Unicorns will never be seen in California, as they only exist in Paradise. https://t.co/SDKCvCj9MO pic.twitter.com/P96at6sOjY
— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) August 21, 2026
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Comments
I guess they are helping the global warming crisis by banning the Unicorn’s flatulence.
Unicorns? Like an honest Democrat?
One is unlikely. The other is a myth.
The pipeline to insanity this bill would open up is gigantic. EVERY animal used as a pet by humans is modified by selective breeding into a different genetic makeup, from bulldogs to chows. Same for every chicken, turkey, cow, horse, et al…
While I agree that a lot goes in to breeding purebred animals, that’s not what this law is going after. California has always been in the forefront of keeping exotic animals out of the state. For this they should be applauded! See Florida to see what happens when you look the other way (pythons, boa constrictors, iguanas) are over running the state to the detriment of native species! Visit Texas! The place is a fucking zoo full of exotic species native to continents half way around the globe! Why? So some knuckle dragger doesn’t have to travel for a mantle piece. Some one with half a brain needs to stop this crap! Yes, California has its problems, but this law is in the right direction
Cali Dems still don’t understand that if Colorado Basin states cut off the water supply, Cali will be quickly knocked back into the 19th Century.
Will they next try to regulate electric sheep? The bill died because that evil Tyrel corporation paid off the politicians..
Muslim men would be in an uproar if anything was done to limit the supply of sheep.
You’re right, that would really get their goat.
It’s the camel’s nose under the tent.
This is of concern only to dreaming androids.
“Will they next try to regulate electric sheep?
That’s my dream anyhow.
The land of fruits and nuts wants to protect unicorns? The mental illness has kicked up two notches down there. Mother nature might straighten things out with fire and plague. Common sense disappeared a long time ago in California.
In a companion bill, male dogs incarcerated in the pound, may receive taxpayer-funded transition surgery to become bitches.
The Soviet Socialist State of KKKalifornicators might want to remember an old saying about Wyoming’s water:
“Whiskey’s for drinking; water is for fighting.”
The best solution to California is a forced secession.
The legislature never tires of this nonsense.
Frankly, there is something to be said for passing this kind of bill, especially these days where there are people who abuse and mistreat animals so badly who knows what might happen in the future. I think it says something good about the California Republican party that someone in the party would propose the bill. At least they care enough about animals to try and help protect them.
The fate of the bill is just another data point to show how evil Democrats/Marxists in California are. They run the show, and they are destroying the state piece by piece. They do nothing about the big problems and screw up even the small, less-important issues. They don’t care about humans other than themselves, so why would they care about protecting animals?
Bah,
“animal rights groups worry that eventually the creatures will be created, sold and later discarded in crowded municipal shelters.”
Proper proposal: Have purchasers post a bond or pay into a state insurance policy that covers the cost of their pet possibly becoming a public charge. Puts the burden back onto the irresponsible ones and lets the responsible ones own the pets and get refunds afterward.
California kneejerk proposal: Ban whatever it is, absolutely, penalizing everybody.
I once had a conversation with a member of the Florida legislature.
He said that legislators are restricted to proposing 2 bills per session, so any proposed bill had to be “important” and “make an impact.”
I asked him if that meant that legislators propose bills to get their names in newspapers, on television and in other media.
He said many do.
Getting you name out there is free advertising for legislators. It is campaign ads in some cases. Find a cause, propose a bill, then get some group to make statements about how the bill “proposed by Senator ‘Smith’ is a great (or horrible) thing.”
Either way, the Senator has gotten their names in front of the voters.
And that is better for them then not proposing any bill at all.
The other trick is filing bills that you KNOW will go nowhere, so as to assure a tranche of your captive supporters (e.g. gun owners) that you “really care” about their issue, without the risk of actually achieving anything they want,
Is it just me, or does the subhead need a verb? (‘Care more’ instead of ‘more’)
Yes, except I don’t think they even “care.”
I live in Commiefornia for work.
Went to Lowes and Home Depot to buy a replacement push lawn mower.
Found out that the insane leftist lunatics have decreed that at the end of this year nobody is ALLOWED to buy gas lawn mowers anymore, so the cheapest push mower is a monstrosity with a GIGANTIC battery attached to it that costs $350.
In the state that’s telling you to set your AC to 78 and turn off lights to save power.
Of the 8 dogs I’ve adopted over my life, 7 came from shelters. I do not want a designer dog.
….
“They call it paradise
I don’t know why
You call some place paradise
Kiss it goodbye”
Eagles, “The Last Resort”
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