Animal RightsWatch
179 Animal Rights Anti-Dog Bills
Introduced In 34 States
by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
Texas & Maine Hearings This Week,
OK & WA At Brink
It is the year of the full-court-press against dog owners by
the radical Humane Society of the United States (HSUS),
which has the long-range agenda of eliminating animal
ownership in America.
The Cat Fanciers Association has published a list of 179
pieces of animal rights legislation affecting dog owners
that have been introduced in 34 different states, and this
remarkable document actually missed a few that we know
about! CFA is to be congratulated on this Herculean
effort, which will help dog owners to learn what to expect
and where to begin to fight for their rights and the dogs
they love.
But Texas, Maine, Washington and Oklahoma dog owners
won’t have a single second to waste if they want to save
their rights to own and enjoy their dogs:
A hearing on a Texas kennel and breeding bill is set for
Wednesday, April 1, 2009.
A rally by HSUS and People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA) is set for Tuesday, March 31, in
Oklahoma City, a day before anti-breeder legislation is
scheduled for a committee vote. The legislation recently
passed the House by a wide margin..
In Maine, a hearing is set for Friday, April 3, on a bill that
will have a major impact on hunting and field trialing with
dogs.
A bill that will have an impact on hobby breeders of
purebred dogs in Washington passed the House and a
Senate committee by wide margins, and can be voted on
by the full Senate at any time.
This report will begin by summarizing the CFA report, and
then discuss the Texas, Oklahoma, Maine and
Washington legislation in separate sections.
As the Washington and Oklahoma legislation proves, the
threats to dog ownership this year are very real. HSUS
has amassed a war chest in excess of $120 million, and
that’s a lot of money to use against dog owners.
Continued apathy will be your greatest enemy, and apathy
accurately describes the response of most dog owners
thus far. At almost every hearing, animal rights activists
have outnumbered dog owners by margins of two-to-three
to one.
Dog owners: The time for action is now.
The CFA Report
The Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) has done a great job
in assembling a resource document of pending
legislation this year.
It can be viewed online at
The states are listed alphabetically in the report. To read
the legislation in your state and learn about its status,
search online (“Google”) your state’s legislature and find
the bill search page. Type in the number of the bill and
follow the links.
Some states are facing major assaults on dog ownership
on many different fronts.
New Jersey leads the pack, with 23 separate bills,
followed by 18 in Illinois, 15 in Massachusetts, 14 in
New York, 13 in Hawaii, nine in Tennessee, eight in
Connecticut, seven in Texas, and six in New Hampshire
and Florida.
Other states with more than one bill are Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri,
Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Virginia and West Virginia.
Wyoming, Washington, Vermont, Oklahoma, Mississippi,
Kentucky, Kansas, Delaware and Colorado face
one bill apiece.
The most common kinds of legislation are about people
who breed dogs, people who sell puppies, mandatory pet
sterilization, puppy “lemon laws,” restrictions on selling
dogs, and limits on the number of pets a person can own.
Texas Breeding Bill Hearing
The Texas House Licensing and Administrative
Procedures Committee will hold a hearing on legislation
that would place crippling restrictions on people who raise
dogs. The hearing on House Bill 3180 is set this coming
Wednesday, April 1, in Rome E2.016 at the Capitol
in Austin.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance is urging all Texas
dog owners to attend this hearing if possible, sign up to
testify, and also submit comments to each member of the
committee. Comments should be submitted by mail, fax
or phone, with email as a somewhat less effective
alternative.
Here is a link to the committee website: http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/list81/350.htm .
If you click on each member’s name, his or her home
page and contact information will be displayed.
HB 3180 is a complex piece of legislation. Please read it
for yourself HERE
Here is a summary of its major provisions:
Anyone who owns or possesses 11 or more intact female
dogs is considered to be a commercial breeder, subject to
intense and crippling regulation. Most serious hobbyists
fall into this category. Most professional trainers and
handlers would be ensnared in this provision as well.
No one could possess more than 50 intact adult dogs.
A hobby breeder is defined as someone who owns or
possesses 10 or fewer intact female dogs. Most serious
hobbyists would exceed this number if retired dogs,
elderly dogs, dogs in competition, young dogs for
evaluation and dogs for breeding are counted.
A troubling definition says that a dealer is anyone who is
equired by law to collect sales tax for the sale of a dog or
puppy. In some municipalities, zoning ordinances say
that sales tax is required on any sale of a dog.
A criminal background check is required of everyone who
applies for a license as a commercial or hobby breeder.
The Department of Licensing and Regulation will inspect
kennels and administer the law. This will entail annual
inspections. A veterinarian or animal control officer could
be called in to assist in the inspection, with the kennel
owner paying for the cost. Regulation will not be with the
Department of Agriculture or any other agency familiar
with animal husbandry.
A seven-member advisory board will be created to oversee
the law and develop regulations. People who raise dogs
will not have representation on this committee.
Commercial kennels (including serious hobbyists) would
have to shut down until bureaucracy runs its course, an
inspection is held and a license is issued. No time limits
are set for the state to act.
Intensive regulation on the care of dogs in commercial
kennels would be established. These standards
essentially would prohibit serious hobby breeders from
raising puppies inside their home, and would require a
sterile institutional environment. Paperwork also would be
extensive.
Puppies could not be sold until they are 12 weeks old,
and provisions for disclosures and a “lemon law” are
included. Regulations would require kennels to employ
a staff deemed to be sufficient, and formal training would
be required.
Stiff fines and civil penalties are imposed for even minor
violations, and the penalties could be cumulative, counting
each dog and each day as a separate offense.
Maine Hunting Dogs
Dogs that kill or injure any domesticated animal could
face a court order mandating euthanasia if LD 988
(same as HP 680) passes into law. This bill amends the
current dangerous dog law, and is scheduled for a
hearing on Friday.
This bill would have particular meaning for people who
hunt with dogs or compete in field trials, as animals that
are technically domesticated (such as feral cats that
have no owner or wandering poultry) can be encountered
far from homes or farms. Domestic waterfowl, for example,
sometimes are encountered living a feral existence.
It even could include a hunting dog that is attacked by
another dog, fights back in self-defense, and injures the
assailant.
Under LD 988, the court could declare the dog dangerous
and order euthanasia. There is no appeal.
A hearing on this legislation is scheduled for
Friday, April 3, before the Joint Agriculture, Conservation
and Forestry Committee at 11 a.m. in Room 206 of the
Cross State Office Building in Augusta.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance is urging all Maine
dog owners to attend and testify at this hearing if possible,
and also to submit comments on the legislation by phone,
mail, fax and/or email.
Here is a link that shows each member of the committee.
Select each official’s name to be directed to his or her
home page and full contact information: http://www.maine.gov/legis/house/jt_com/acf.htm .
Please read the legislation (it is short but not sweet for
dog owners): HERE
Oklahoma Bill Ensnares Breeders
Legislation that will affect many people who raise dogs
was rescheduled and will face a vote on
Wednesday, April 1, by the Senate Appropriations
Committee. If the committee approves the bill, it will be
sent to the full Senate. The bill already passed the state
House by a wide margin.
HB 1332 was originally scheduled for a vote on March 23, but
intense efforts by people who raise dogs made its passage
questionable. Thus, its sponsors asked for more time to lobby
the senators, and to hold rallies by PETA and HSUS
supporters on Tuesday March 31.
The committee vote is set for Room 419-C of the State
Capitol Building. The time is listed only as after the session
or after the Rules Committee meeting, which is set for either
1:30 p.m. or after the session.
We are urging Oklahoma dog owners to contact
Appropriations Committee members before Wednesday by
phone, fax, mail or email to express opposition. Here is a link
to the members of the committee: http://www.oksenate.gov/committees/standing/appropriations.htm .
Click on each member’s name to locate contact information.
In addition, a rally of dog owners (organized by
commercial breeders with the American Canine Association)
is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Capitol.
The legislation is the brainchild of the
Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA), and
supposedly was meant to impact only large commercial
kennels. OVMA officials have contacted the
American Sporting Dog Alliance to state that the legislation
is not inspired by the animal rights agenda or HSUS.
However, we must disagree. A reading of the original bill was
straight out of the HSUS handbook for breeding laws. After
failing to get enough support, the bill’s sponsors softened it
in several areas. However, we still believe that the legislation
is unnecessary, as commercial kennels already are
regulated federally and by state animal cruelty laws,
ensnares conscientious kennel operators in needless
regulation and red tape, and is very burdensome to many animal rescue groups and serious avocational breeders.
HB 1332 still requires anyone who sells or transfers 25 or
more dogs and/or cats in a year to be licensed, inspected
and regulated as a commercial kennel. For some breeds, this
would amount to only three or four litters a year. It also
specifically includes private animal rescue groups.
Fines, penalties, animal seizures and license revocations are
specified, but a kennel owner is not give to opportunity to
face a court of law. Appeals are administrative only, with the
Department of Agriculture becoming the cop, judge,
jury and executioner.
Please read HB 1332 for yourself: HERE
Washington Bill Due For Vote
Legislation regulating people who raise dogs has passed the
Senate in Washington, and also passed through a House
committee. It passed by an 8-3 vote in the House Judiciary
Committee on March 26, and now can be called for a final
vote by the full House at any time.
Like the Oklahoma bill, Washington Senate Bill 5651 was
softened after its introduction because of protests by dog
owners. The original bill could be accurately described as
inflammatory animal rights legislation that would have
wantonly destroyed high quality breeding of purebred dogs
in the state. It defined even small hobby breeders as
“puppy mills.”
There have been several improvements to the legislation.
However, the American Sporting Dog Alliance continues to
actively oppose it for several reasons.
Chief among those reasons is the fact that it is not needed.
When challenged by the American Sporting Dog Alliance,
proponents of the legislation could not name a single instance
when a problem at a kennel was not fully addressed by
existing laws. Washington has very tough animal cruelty
laws, and they can be used to shut down any poorly
operated kennel.
We see no reason to subject the vast majority of kennel
owners, who have high quality operations, to cumbersome
bureaucracy.
Moreover, all real commercial kennels already are federally
regulated. Although it’s stated purpose is to regulate
commercial kennels, the legislation specifically excludes
any kennel that has a federal license.
That exemption tells us that commercial kennels are not
the real target. In fact, the bill still specifically targets
anyone who owns or possesses more than 10 sexually
intact dogs over the age of six months. This group
includes almost all serious hobby breeders, and some
of the finest kennels in America.
The bill also effectively prohibits raising puppies in a
home environment.
For link to the legislative summary of the amended bill
click HERE
This link is the actual text of the amended bill: HERE
The American Sporting Dog Alliance urges all Washington
dog owners to contact as many state senators as possible
to express opposition to SB 5651. Here is a list of all state
senators, with links to pages with full contact information: http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Senators/
The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners,
breeders and professionals who work with breeds of dogs
that are used for hunting. We also welcome people who work
with other breeds, as legislative issues affect all of us. We
are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of
dog owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships
between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in
American society and life.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance
also needs your help so that we can continue to work to
protect the rights of dog owners. Your membership,
participation and support are truly essential to the success
of our mission. We are funded solely by your donations in
order to maintain strict independence.
Please visit us on the web at
Our email is asda@csonline.net.
