AR agenda: same game across the board

The animal rights platform is: universal reduction of human contact with animals regardless of species. This is accomplished by manipulation and extreme governmental regulation. HB 1451 is no exception; the bill goes far beyond any perceived need to ensure humane conditions for dogs.

Parallel quotes from animal rights organization leaders behind the introduction of HB 1451:

Jill Buckley (senior director of ASPCA Legislative Affairs) stated HB 1451 would "ensure that large-scale dog and cat breeders in the state comply with such basic humane standards as providing clean water, proper food, enough space for dogs and cats to easily sit, stand, turn around and lie down, and provide essential veterinary care."

Wayne Pacelle (HSUS CEO) “I just got the very exciting news from California that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed A.B. 1437, a bill backed by The HSUS that requires that starting in 2015 all shell (whole) eggs sold in California must come from hens who were able to stand up, lie down, turn around, and fully extend their limbs without touching one another or the sides of an enclosure. In other words: California will become a cage-free state.”

Cartoon posted immediately after HSUS “puppy mill” ballot initiative win in Missouri.

Animal use groups from livestock producers to cancer researchers to dog breeders and cat fanciers need to recognize this common threat. Critically important is that the animal rights agenda must be clear to every Texas Senator.

Texas Legislators Vie for New Bill to Limit Pet Ownership Rights

Edited by National News Desk
Published on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 – 18:39:16

DALLAS, Texas, April 13 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — A collective group of animal organizations – Animal Owners Association of Texas, Professional Canine Breeder Association, East Texas Dog Lovers and individuals – have come together to stand against a bill that they say is unconscionable.

“While thousands of teachers, police and firemen are losing jobs, Texas lawmakers are proposing the passage of HB 1451 designed to implement a costly kennel inspection program,” says Linda Rogers of Animal Owners Association of Texas. “It’s unconscionable for lawmakers to even consider trading scarce funds for human needs and services to implement costly kennel inspections.”

According to this collective, HB 1451 imposes numerous regulations that would not improve the health and welfare of dogs, but would unconstitutionally violate the rights of responsible breeders at great expense to Texas taxpayers. If passed, the bill is slated to increase state spending by 1.3 million per year. Even though the bill indicates cost will be absorbed by breeder fees, details are unclear regarding start-up fees and more.

“There’s already a penal code that addresses the humane care and treatment of all animals without regard to quantity or use,” explains Rogers. “It’s Texas Penal Code 42.092.”

Included among the many associations and individuals against this bill are: the Sheriff’s Association of Texas; Animal Owners Association of Texas; Professional Canine Breeders Association; East Texas Dog Lovers; American Kennel Club; American Pet Registry Inc.; Endangered Breeds Association; American Dog Breeders Ass.; Responsible Pet Owners Alliance; Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council; Texas Pet Industry Coalition; Canine Animal Rescue Effort; American Canine Association; and a host of individual pet lovers, kennel clubs, and Texas veterinarians.

“I’m concerned over the possible passage of HB 1451,” says Dwayne Collins DVM, who has been practicing veterinarian medicine for 42 years. “This bill has many similarities to the bill that was passed in Missouri, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma and clearly had adverse effects on reputable kennel operations. For instance, Oklahoma went from more than 700 licensed USDA kennels to a little more than 350 after the bill’s passage. No major breed registries, including the American Kennel Club support the Texas bill.”

Collins adds that this bill needs to be tabled and rewritten to include those who will be most impacted (i.e., major breed registries, kennel operators and mom and pop operations).

According to bill supporters, the bill will only impact commercial breeders who possess 11 or more adult intact female dogs or cats who are engaged in the business of breeding those animals and selling their offspring. Small breeders with 10 or fewer female breeding dogs will not be affected by the bill, nor will pet stores or other retail outlets that sell dogs or cats.

However, bill opponents say that anyone who breeds/owns dogs or cats will be impacted financially and emotionally with over burdensome rules, regulations, and fees that will be constituted by a commission that has no understanding of the industry.

Additionally, the bill has a provision that allows the department to solicit and accept gifts, grants and other donations from any source, leaving the door open for animal rights activists to influence and control the department.

In the words of Rep. Senfronia Thompson of District 141, “I do not own a pet; I have never bought a bag of dog food and I never will.”

Thompson is the author HB 1451 and wants people to believe that she is doing this for the care and treatment of animals.

Rep. Patricia Harless of District 126 also supports the bill. However, her support is in direct opposition to issues posted on her website. By supporting the bill, private property rights will be limited because animals are private property and free market principles will be discouraged by arbitrarily closing thousands of small businesses that are already doing things right.

Currently, responsible breeders are regulated through USDA, AKC and/or their veterinarians. Irresponsible breeders/owners are not regulated and will avoid any and all laws. If the animals are not cared for, then sheriff or police departments have the right to proceed with Texas Penal Code 42.092.

There were nine committee members: Chairman Rep. Mike Hamilton, Rep. Chente Quintanilla, Rep. Joe Driver, Rep. Charlie Geren, Rep. Roland Gutierrez, Rep. Patricia Harless, Rep. John Kuempel, Rep. Jose Menendez and Rep. Senfronia Thompson. Six of them voted yes to send HB 1451 for a house vote. Three representatives were absent.

To learn more about the bill, visit: www.legis.state.tx.us and search for HB 1451.
To contact legislators and senators, visit: www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/ .

News Source: Animal Owners Association of Texas :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source by Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®. View all current news at: Send2PressNewswire.com

HB 1451 Anti-Breeding Bill Hearing Held Today

TX-RPOA E-News From RPOA Texas Outreach and Responsible Pet Owners Alliance

What a day!

The Public Hearing on Texas HB 1451, the Dog And Cat Anti-Breeder Bill, was held by the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice today! After all the months of hard work, it paid off. Our witnesses ran the gamut of animal interests and couldn't have been better. If you missed it, you must watch it tonight on the state's website. and scroll down to May 12, 2011 Senate Committee Criminal Justice. It's better than any movie or TV show. You may have to download the free Real Player to receive it.

We can't begin to tell you everything in this E-News. Our hero of the day was definitely Senator Dan Patrick who grilled our speakers and brought out the truth about this bill and the agenda behind it. He was especially concerned about coming into our homes without a Search Warrant, possible extinction of gene pools for rare breeds, Criminal Background Checks for all help - even his own daughter if she wanted to work there for minimum wage. And more. Senator Carona backed him up.

Overall it was made perfectly clear to the senators that there's no need for this bill; that the existing state Animal Cruelty Law works well with testimony from Van Zandt County Sheriff Pat Burnett; retired policeman David Tapley, and James Whorter, an animal control officer certified by Texas Animal Control Association. Tapley held up a thick book of USDA regulations required by the bill which cannot be met in a home environment. McWhorter pointed out that we aren't even required to take our children to the doctor once a year!

Senator John Whitmire laid out his bill and the fun began! Whitmire began with his committee substitute which includes an amendment to provide exemptions for dogs bred to be used exclusively for herding livestock, hunting, including pointing, flushing or retrieving game; or competing in field trials. He said there was no need for testimony from those interests today but that was ignored. Senator Carona felt "show dogs" should be added to the exemptions and said his Mother used to breed show dogs. Whitmire mentioned that Senators Carona and Patrick had questioned why we need more government?

Witnesses who supported the bill spoke first with the usual lineup: Houston SPCA, Texas Veterinary Medical Association, and Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN). Those who signed up to support but didn't speak included: HSUS' Nicole Paquette, a sundry of THLN members, and Patt Nordyke with Texas Assoc. of Animal Care Services.

Speaking for RPOA were Martine Huslig and Martin Kralik who have been doing a tremendous job working the halls at the Capitol for the past month educating our legislators and leaving them information to read later. This is what surely turned the tide for us because many times the legislators never see the emails, faxes and don't hear the phone calls which are only tallied for them. Personal contact is very important with all the rest to backup their visits and visits from our lobbyists.

It's perceived "votes" that count.

There's no way to cover everything here but Dale Martenson and Maura Phelan captured the attention of Senator Patrick who questioned both extensively.

Senator Patrick said: "This bill makes no sense whatsoever! Where is it coming from?"

Senator Whitmore was a little taken back and insisted he wasn't presenting the bill for "any group" but just himself after Dale Martenson brought up the financial contributions HSUS had made to Representative Thompson.

Dale Martenson laid it all out there for them, including the expose of Della Lindquist, attorney with TX Dept. of Licensing & Regulation, as being an "animal rights" activist who helped write the bill and would be enforcing it. Later Patrick questioned TDLR director William Koontz about Lindquist who responded that was her private life but admitted she did work on the bill. Koontz was unable to answer other questions from Patrick.

Maura Phelan, president of Travis County Kennel Club, former prosecutor for Travis, Harris, Williamson Counties, special prosecutor for Animal Cruelty in Burnet County, Golden Retriever Breeder and Rescuer (phew!) presented a whole new perspective from many angles and was questioned extensively by Senator Patrick who seemed impressed.

Phelan pointed out that the proposed bill rewards snitches which will only lead to harassment by "animal rights" activists. And added that the bill provides less punishment (a misdemeanor) than existing Penal Code 42, the Animal Cruelty Law, which has a fine and jail time. She stressed "probable cause" must be found to enter private property and told of her experience shutting down a bad facility.

The hearing just kept building on great testimony and ended with a big crescendo!

Thanks to all of you who attended today - whether you spoke orjust came to back up other speakers. It's always dangerous to start naming names and by no means is this all of the wonderful presentations made. You must go watch it yourself. See the URL above.

Additions to the HB 1451 Opposition List

Emails and letters keep coming in as word spreads to join the Opposition List!

Newest additions:

Alabama Canine Coalition
American Miniature Schnauzer Club
Miniature Pinscher Club of America, Inc.
American Staffordshire Terrier Club of Texas
Austin Shetland Sheepdog Club
Best In Stewards
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club of Greater Houston
North Carolina Responsible Animal Owners Alliance (NCRAOA)
Professional Canine Breeder's Association
SC Federation of Dog Clubs
Yankee Miniature Pinscher Club, Inc
South Florida Miniature Pinscher Club, Inc.
Hudson Valley Chihuahua Club, Inc.
Toy Dog Club of Western Mass., Inc.
Japanese Chin Club of Greater Houston
Scottish Terrier Cub of Greater Houston
Travis County Kennel Club of Austin, TX

The eyes of Texas animal owners are on the Senate!

TX-RPOA E-News
From RPOA Texas Outreach and Responsible Pet Owners Alliance

Action Alert! The "hot potato" HB 1451 arrived in the Senate but who's to sponsor? The eyes of Texas animal owners are on the Senate!

Time to contact Texas senators and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1451 and do NOT sponsor it. The bill has passed the House; been sent to the Senate but not assigned to a committee. There is no sponsor yet and we want to keep it that way.

HB 1451 is not written to regulate dog and cat breeders in Texas. It is written to eliminate them. The Standards for Care; Confinement and Transportation adopted must meet federal USDA regulations at a minimum. Bill sponsors and proponents know they cannot be met in a home environment.

There is no way that there can be an unbiased advisory committee in Texas to administer the bill provisions because PETA types have infiltrated all levels of government, animal shelters, animal controls, humane societies and some rescue groups.

Recently Della Lindquist, with Texas Dept. of Licensing & Regulation, was exposed to be an Austin "animal rights" activist. This is the department involved in writing and enforcing the bill.

RPOA is networking with many other animal interest groups. The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and Sportsmen's & Animal Owners' Voting Alliance are among them. Check out their links below for helpful information.

Sportsmen's & Animal Owners' Voting Alliance (SAOVA) has a link to email ALL the senators with one email.

U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance has an excellent report on the House Members Voting Record on HB 1451. Please note in the link that all the Democratic representatives voted in favor of the bill with the Republican vote divided almost in half.

If not for the power of bill sponsor Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D) who allegedly threatened representatives with killing their bills in her Local & Consent Calendar Committee, we would have killed this bill in the House. But now it's on to the Senate!

Texas House Moves to Strip Rights of Sporting Dog Owners

4/27/2011 U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance
By Rob Sexton, Vice President for Government Affairs

Surely Davy Crockett, Sam Houston and Jim Bowie are rolling over in their graves. It is hard to believe that these patriots in the fight for a free and independent Texas would ever have foreseen that a legislature full of supposed conservatives would vote to permit warrantless searches of the homes of those folks who might sell a few puppies at the end of their driveway. That, however, is exactly what took place yesterday as the Texas House of Representatives voted 98-43 in favor of a bill alleged to be targeting so called puppy mills. Click here to see who voted to take your rights away and to see those that stood up to protect them.

Puppy mill is a media term coined by animal rights groups to bring attention to substandard conditions in some large scale, commercial dog breeding facilities. The dog owners that I know, along with hunters in general, all believe that these places should be operated humanely. But as is often the case with legislation drafted by the animal rights lobby, the net has been cast much wider than large-scale commercial facilities.

That’s why the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, the American Kennel Club (AKC), the Texas Wildlife Association, and many other national and local sportsmen’s and dog groups are opposing the bill.

House Bill 1451 classifies you as a commercial breeder if you maintain eleven female dogs that have not been spayed, and you sell dogs. Now, to a lot of urban folks having eleven dogs may seem like a lot. But to a sporting dog kennel owner who uses the animals to chase foxes and coyotes or flush quail, it is not a lot. And if one of these owners sells even just two puppies, then that person opens his house to being searched by the government without cause. Without even so much as a warrant.

No warrant. I guess you can now add the founding fathers to the list of those rolling in their graves.

But that is indeed the case with this bill. The fellow who puts a sign to sell a litter of puppies at the end of his driveway is considered a commercial breeder. The woman who takes out an ad in her local newspaper to sell a few extra Labrador retrievers is to be treated as if she were operating a puppy producing factory. And yet no one has ever made a case that hobby breeders and sporting dog kennels are operating inhumane facilities that would necessitate these restrictions.

This bill is like treating a mom and pop ice cream stand the same as a factory. License fees will be higher, even thousands of dollars. Record keeping requirements must be maintained and be available to the government at any time. Kennel construction and maintenance will be tightly regulated and specifically spelled out by the government. The bill sets up a new unelected board of bureaucrats that is allowed to add any requirement, fee and restriction that it deems necessary. The commission is estimated by the state to cost at least $1.2 million per year, which must be paid by kennel owners. All of these things will run the cost of maintaining a hobby kennel through the roof, and ultimately out of existence.

Currently many sporting dog kennels and hobby breeders maintain the records for their dogs on their home computer. Because, as I keep driving home the point, they are not a large commercial industry. This bill gives inspectors the authority to search the premises where records are kept without probable cause or even a warrant. A suspected drug dealer does not have to worry about government enforcers storming his house without cause, but a dog breeder does? That is simply amazing!

And what is even more amazing? Is that this is taking place in Texas. Not California. Not New York. But in the Republic of Texas. The future home of one of the most restrictive dog kennel requirements in the United States.

House Bill 1451 is now in the Texas Senate. Here’s hoping that the elected officials here will remember their historical predecessors and make sure that this bill is written fairly, and properly targets those abusive commercial operators it claims to be pursuing. Failing that, this bill should be defeated.

To find your state senator’s contact information, visit the USSA Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/ussportsmen/home/

HB 1451 targets hobby breeders

HB 1451 goes beyond all reasonable need for animal welfare and places severe restrictions on dog breeders who are not breeding dogs as a business. The requirements cited in the bill would force many hobby breeders and hunting dog breeders to shut down altogether. Reading the actual bill instead of Rep. Thompson's media version of it might be an education to everyone.

If you are a dog lover, do you want dogs raised in a home setting or in a separate steel and concrete building? Thompson's bill requires federal USDA engineering standards be used for facilities - that means separate buildings, not a breeder's home. How does that benefit anyone? Even more ridiculous is the claim that no cost is attached to the bill. Must be some new math we don't know about.