Texas hb 1451 call to action! Phone your senator now!

A SAOVA message to sportsmen, pet owners and farmers concerned about protecting their traditions, avocations and livelihoods from anti-hunting, anti-breeding, animal guardianship advocates. Forwarding and cross posting, with attribution, encouraged.

TEXAS HB 1451 CALL TO ACTION! PHONE YOUR SENATOR NOW!

Dear SAOVA friends,

The dog and cat breeder bill HB 1451 has been amended by Sen. John Whitmire (D-15), Chair of the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, who is now the bill’s advocate in the Senate. The amended version attempts to placate hunters and ranchers with an exemption for dogs bred exclusively for herding livestock or hunting including pointing, flushing, or retrieving game. The reality is that this exemption is not likely to survive Conference Committee should HB 1451 pass the Senate.

NEW HB 1451 OPPONENT
The Texas Public Policy Foundation recently issued an analysis of HB 1451. The Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan research institute whose mission is to promote and defend liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise in Texas and the nation by educating and affecting policymakers and the Texas public policy debate with academically sound research and outreach.

The analysis points out that "Breeders could be subject to up to one year in jail for failure to comply with any aspect of this legislation pursuant to Texas Occupations Code, Section 165.151, which establishes a Class A misdemeanor for violating “any rule” of any professional licensing board. Accordingly, this bill would expand Texas’ already overreaching regulatory application of criminal law, extending it even further beyond its traditional role of protecting individuals from harm."

The Foundation also noted, “Besides being costly to licensees and taxpayers (it requires an increase of 16 FTEs), it is not clear House Bill 1451 would improve the quality of breeding.”

The analysis, House Bill 1451: Breeding Big Government concluded that Texas dog and cat breeders should not be licensed. http://tinyurl.com/3u55qyw

ACTION REQUIRED NOW

Calls to senators are urgently needed to stop HB 1451 from being sent to the floor for vote. Keep talking points concise and keep those phone lines ringing! Download the contact sheet http://saova.org/news/Texas/TexasSenate2011.pdf

* HB 1451 grants authority for warrantless searches of residences a single dog or cat is kept indoors or records are maintained on a home computer.

* HB 1451 overreaches any perceived need to ensure humane conditions for dogs by attempting to regulate owners of a small number of intact dogs regardless of frequency of breeding or numbers bred.

* Ownership of 11 intact females is an unacceptable threshold and does not make a kennel a business.
* Animal cruelty is already a punishable crime under Texas law and many local governments have enacted further regulations. Current law should be enforced rather than expand state law with an expensive licensing scheme.

* HB 1451 will do nothing to bring about better treatment of animals on the part of those who engage in acts of cruelty, neglect and abuse. Instead it will restrict the operations of caring and legitimate hunting dog kennels and hobby breeders.

There is still time to join the growing OPPOSITION LIST by sending an email to saova@earthlink.net

Full list at http://saova.org/TexasHB1451.Opposition.html

Find additional information at http://saova.org and at U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
http://www.ussportsmen.org/

PLEASE CROSS POST WIDELY

The world not only belongs to those who show up, it's controlled by the best informed and most motivated.

Susan Wolf
Sportsmen’s & Animal Owners’ Voting Alliance
Issue lobbying and working to identify and elect supportive legislators

Support SAOVA’s advocacy efforts and outreach http://saova.org/support.html

The message above was posted to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas residents by the Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance (SAOVA).

SAOVA is a nonpartisan volunteer group working to protect Americans from the legislative and political threats of radical animal rightists. Visit our website at http://saova.org for this program's goals, methodology and list signup details.

 

According to people that are for the bill, the Senators listed below are unsure of where they stand on HB 1451. Call them and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1451.

Brian Birdwell – (512) 463-0122 brian.birdwell@senate.state.tx.us
Robert Deuell – (512) 463-0102 robert.deuell@senate.state.tx.us
Craig Estes – (512) 463-0130 craig.estes@senate.state.tx.us
Troy Fraser – (512) 463-0124 troy. fraser@senate.state.tx.us
Mike Jackson – (512) 463-0111 mike.jackson@senate.state.tx.us

 

It is now on the intent calendar and could go for a vote at any time.

 

IF you live in Texas, you need to call, email, fax, send a pigeon, or do what ever it takes to get in touch wih he govenor's office and tell him to veto HB 1451 before it becomes law... This is bad for everyone

 

folks - we really need a lot of calls. its all up to the governor now- all it needs is for his signature. Dan

 

Current Information:

The information below comes from Zandra Anderson at Texasdoglawyer.com

HB 1451 (Breeder Bill)
This bill is currently awaiting the signature of the Governor. When signed, it becomes effective immediately but breeders do not have to obtain a license until September 1, 2012.
1. The law applies to someone who:
1. Possesses eleven intact females, and
2. Who “sells or exchanges, or offers to sell or exchange, not fewer than 20 animals in a calendar year.”
This amendment narrows who it applies to by adding a puppy limit in addition to the eleven intact females provision. Note that to qualify as a breeder both requisites must be met since the law is written conjunctively (with the use of “and”).
The law does not apply to someone possessing ten or less intact dogs. Similarly, the law does not apply to someone who sells or offers to sell 19 or less puppies. Therefore, a person could possess ten intact females that produce fifty puppies and the law would not apply. Likewise, a person could possess fifteen intact females, but if only ten puppies are sold, the law does not apply.
This bill provides that there is a presumption that anyone possessing this many intact females is indeed using them for breeding. The onus is on the possessor of the animals to prove otherwise.
2. There is an exemption for “special purpose dogs” that are “bred with the intent that it be used primarily for”
a. Herding or other agricultural purposes;
b. Hunting including tracking, chasing, pointing, flushing or retrieving game, or
c. “Competing in field trials, hunting tests, or similar organized performance events.”
This amendment broadened the hunting exemption to including tracking and chase dogs. It added an exception for dogs that participate in hunting tests and other similar organized performance events. Notably, the dogs have to bred “primarily” for this use instead of “exclusively” for the use as in the original amendment.

Copied and pasted from RPOA:

Dear Governor Perry,

HB 1451 was not written for Texas and is being steamrolled all across the
country by HSUS, an animal “rights” organization. In 2005 HSUS failed to
get PAWS, a federal bill, passed to license every dog breeder in the U.S.
and vowed to take it to the states. Senator Rick Santorum sponsored the
HSUS bill and lost his next election.
HB 1451 is a very controversial bill and was defeated last session. Texas
Humane Legislation Network (THLN) is the Texas lapdog for HSUS
and responsible for the extreme animal “rights” legislation we face each
legislative session.
Last November’s elections have shown that voters want an open transparent
government and we certainly didn’t see that with this bill. The bill was
rammed through by Rep. Thompson and Senator Whitmire – same sponsors as last
session. Every legislative rule in the book was broken; meeting notice
requirements suspended, etc. Allegedly Rep. Thompson threatened to block
any bills from going through her Local & Consent Calendar Committee if
legislators didn’t support her bill. The vote was corrupted!
Every legislator who voted “Aye” on HB 1451 has been recorded and will be
publicized extensively through many web sites in Texas and elsewhere.
President Cile Holloway, Texas Humane Legislation Network, has
publicly stated they wanted to get “anything” passed this session and come
back later. Senator Whitmire said the bill will be back next session. HB 1451
is only the beginning — not the end.
“The standards adopted under this section must at a minimum meet federal
USDA regulations.” The only breeders who can meet these standards are the
existing 36 USDA licensed facilities in Texas. There will be no more
breeder licenses sold unless expensive new facilities are built. With pet
stores banned in Austin and El Paso, the handwriting is on the wall.
The exemptions hastily added to the bill at the last minute are meaningless
and will have to be defined in the court system. Dogs “bred for hunting,
herding, tracking, chasing, pointing, flushing, or retrieving game,
competing in field trials, hunting tests, or similar organized performance
events” is ambiguous and not defined anywhere.
Selling any puppies from those litters as family “pets” is questionable.
Since the Breeder License is renewed annually, a dog that qualifies one year
may not qualify in subsequent years. The rules are yet to be written by an
Advisory Committee which will undoubtedly be stacked with THLN members.
Della Lindquist, an attorney with Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation
(the agency that helped write and will interpret/enforce the law) has been
exposed as an Austin animal “rights” extremist.
The bill refers only to “dog and cat breeder” now with all reference to
“commercial and high volume breeder” removed. It was always meant to apply
to show dog and cat breeders and exhibitors. There is no legal definition
of a “Puppy Mill.”
This legislative session has seen bills filed to eventually end ALL dog and
cat breeding, sterilize every dog and cat in the state and establish a “Pet
Abuser Registry” to elevate animals to human status as in a “Sex Offender
Registry.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see their radical agenda.
Thank you for taking the time in this extremely important matter.
Sincerely,
___________________________________________
Please contact Governor Perry every day in every way! Ask him to “VETO HB
1451!” Send the same message everyday!!!
Go to http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/ and click on
“Registering Opinion” and send your opposition email. Copy and paste
anything you wish from this alert.
Telephone: Opinion Hotline [for Texas Callers] (800) 843-5789
Second Citizens Opinion Hotline [for Texas Callers] (800) 252-9600
Opinion Hotline for Out-of-state Callers: (512) 463-1782
Office of Governor Main Switchboard [8:00 a.m. To 5:00 p.m. CST] (512) 463-2000
Office of Governor Fax: (512) 463-1849
Alternate Fax: (512) 463-1843