VA residents--urgent--animal rights bills need immediate action
Review of pending VA animal bills from Bob Kane. PLEASE take time to email legislators/committee members as indicated. As Bob says, they are too busy to understand all of the ramifications of supposedly well-intentioned animal bills, unless we tell them.
Richmond bill filing ends - Six anti-breeder measures and much more.
Help requested.
Dear Virginia Dog Owners,
The last of this General Assembly's bills were filed on 1/18/2008.
Included in the large anti-dog owner docket are six anti-breeding
measures and numerous other ill-advised, restrictive bills. Unless
you act in the next 36 hours, five of the worst of these bills are
likely to pass the House Agriculture Committee and become law.
While the heinous Michael Vick dogfighting crimes generated
significant press coverage, understandable disgust and some bills
this session, the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) "Virginia is for
Puppy Mills" campaign has been a bigger factor in the record breaking
animal bill volume. This deceitful and self-serving campaign has used
the publicity surrounding a large commercial breeder in Carroll
County that should have been registered and inspected under the
Animal Welfare Act, but violated federal law, to condemn all the
state's hobby breeders and call for their regulation, as it tried to
do with the Santorum Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005 (PAWS) and
the November 2007 Senate Farm Bill.
Statements to the press that "the vast majority of puppies sold in
Virginia come from puppy mills run by unlicensed breeders" and "only
16 of Virginia's more than 900 commercial puppy dealers hold federal
licenses" are patently false and purposefully designed to mislead the
public and our legislators. Our General Assembly considers 70-80
bills per day and hasn't time to study complicated, arcane pet
issues. They will pass these terrible bills unless you object in person at this week's hearings or by email. Using VHDOA's
preprogrammed contact page at
http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com/VA.AG.Ctmes.html is very easy, but
just saying Vote NO isn't an effective objection. Tell the
legislators why you object Please be polite, personalize your message
with a bit about yourself and be sure to include your name and
mailing address.
See VHDOA's updated and rearranged bill list at
http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com/stater.html If necessary, put these
bill comments in your own words using
http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com/VA.AG.Ctmes.html Time is of the
essence.
Breeder Regulation
*HB538 Commercial dog breeding operations; definition, penalty.
Bobby Orrock
Summary: Defines commercial breeders as persons who maintain 20 or
more unsterilized adult females for commercial breeding purposes.
Commercial breeders will be required to: (i) apply for a business
license from their respective locality; (ii) cooperate with
inspections by animal control officers to ensure compliance with
state and federal animal care laws; (iii) create a fire emergency
plan and install fire safety measures; (iv) maintain records of
animal sales, purchases, breeding history, and veterinary care; (v)
dispose of dead dogs and confined waste in accordance with law; and
(vi) maintain no more than 50 adult dogs at one time. Commercial
breeders that violate any of these provisions are guilty of a Class 1
misdemeanor. Pet shops must ensure that their dogs are purchased from
dealers that are properly registered and licensed with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. *(Humane Society of the U.S. [HSUS] #1
priority bill.)
VHDOA comment: HSUS failed three times in its attempt to impose
federal licensing and 60 pages of regulations on hobby dog breeders.
Each time the U.S. Congress refused to amend the federal Animal
Welfare Act to include breeders that sell at retail. Its merger
partner also lost a federal lawsuit challenging the same USDA provision. The American Veterinary Medical Association, U.S. canine
and cat registries and tens of thousands of pet owners opposed these
efforts. HSUS publicly announced in December 2007 that it was
carrying its federal hobby breeder regulation fight to Virginia and
hired high-priced Richmond lobbyists. HB538, HB690, HB691 and other
bills are the result. Note carefully: HB538 breeches the dog breeder
regulatory distinction that has prevailed nationwide since 1970. This
bill far exceeds federal law in its scope. It defines "commercial
breeder" to include anyone with a large kennel that sells a single
dog at retail or wholesale. Every breeding must be veterinarian
approved. All kennels, identified through state tax filings,
classified ads or the "gotcha" rabies database dog licensing system,
will be screened for size and subject to unannounced, no warrant
inspections. No kennel may have more than 50 animals older than four
months of age at any time. Violation penalties for any provision
include possible Class 1 misdemeanor fines and jailing for up to
twelve months. HB538 is a very close relative to HSUS's disastrous
federal "PAWS" bill, which was defeated in 2006 and again in November
2007. Only the cosmetics differ.
OPPOSE
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural
Resources
Set for subcommittee hearing at 7:30 AM on 1/22/2008
*HB690 Commercial breeding of companion animals; penalty.
Ward Armstrong
Summary: Requires state licensure of any person who breeds companion
animals and is also required to be licensed by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services will issue licenses and collect an annual fee of $150, which
will be remitted to the localities where animal breeding facilities
are located. Animal control officers are granted the authority to
investigate any commercial breeding operation to ensure compliance
with animal care laws.*(HSUS bill)
VHDOA comment: See HB691 inspection conflict comments below.
OPPOSE
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural
Resources
Set for subcommittee hearing at 7:30 AM on 1/22/2008
*HB691 Animal control officers; inspection of breeding facilities.
Ward Armstrong
Summary: Requires an animal control officer to make quarterly
inspections of any premises in his jurisdiction where dealers breed
companion animals. The animal control officer will ensure that
dealers comply with state and federal standards for sanitation,
licensure, and adequate care. *(HSUS bill)
VHDOA comment: This bill language makes *every* dog and cat seller in
Virginia subject to quarterly inspections, without requiring due
cause or a warrant.
VA Code: "Dealer" means any person who in the regular course of
business for compensation or profit buys, sells, transfers,
exchanges, or barters companion animals. The following shall not be
considered dealers: (i) any person who transports companion animals
in the regular course of business as a common carrier, or (ii) any
person or organization whose primary purpose is to find permanent
adoptive homes for companion animals.
Further, while USDA has 60 pages of regulations detailing precise
animal care requirements, Virginia has none. How can ACOs do federal
inspections when they can't do their normal jobs and aren't
sufficiently trained for those? Whose inspection result governs, if
federal inspectors and VA ACOs disagree? This is extraordinarily bad,
poorly crafted, ill considered legislation. The bill's legal
conflicts and negative policy and fiscal impacts are staggering.
OPPOSE
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
Set for full ACNR Committee hearing on 1/16/2008 at 8:30 AM
Reset for subcommittee hearing at 7:30 AM on 1/22/2008
HB217 Tethering of animals; makes certain acts associated therewith
Class 3 misdemeanor
Ken Alexander Summary: Makes certain acts associated with the tethering of animals
a Class 3 misdemeanor. The bill prohibits such actions as (i)
tethering an animal that is less than six months old, except in an
emergency, (ii) tethering an animal that has not been spayed or
neutered, except in an emergency, and (iii) using a tether weighing
more than the animal can reasonably bear. Local governments are
authorized to adopt an animal tethering ordinance that can be more
restrictive than the proposed statute.(VVAW-PETA-HSUS Bill)
VHDOA comment: Identical to Mr. Alexander's 2007 failed HB2098. Only
sterilized animals may be tethered and tethers must be at least 10
feet long. (HSUS, VACA, VVAW supported)
OPPOSE Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural
Resources Set for subcommittee hearing at 7:30 AM on 1/22/2008
Continued in next post....
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