Are we looking at the end of pets? (vet, breeders, training)

[kaylor]

Animal legislation has gone crazy this year.

Yesterday a bill was struck down in Florida, but there are more everywhere. Nearly every state has legislation in process that is leading to the demise of our pets.

I received this today, with the request to cross post....... These are typical of what might be in process in your state.

So, here it is. Emails to legislators are effective.

TEXAS

TX-RPOA E-News
From RPOA Texas Outreach and
Responsible Pet Owners Alliance
"Animal welfare, not animal 'rights'
and, yes, there is a difference."
Permission granted to crosspost.

Action Alert!
March 23, 2009
RPOA has a new webmaster and we'll have lots of helpful information posted soon on our website regarding the state legislature. Bear with us. The filing deadline for bills has passed and we're compiling information for the website and making plans for "Responsible Pet Owners Lobby Day."
To find your personal representative and senator go to Texas Legislature Online and type your address in the Search Box on the lower right. Print it out as we're tracking 15 bills this session and we'll need you to visit, call, fax and email them and all committee members at the appropriate time. We'll have all the bills, committees info, their analysis and talking points, etc. on our website.
In the meantime contact your legislators and educate them on the source of the four very bad bills below. You can be sure they're hearing from the Animal Rights Brigade. In fact, copy and paste from below and send them an email right now. Each legislator has a personal web page you can email from. There has never been such an onslaught of "animal rights" bills ever filed in any state before. Texas is a special target and it's up to us or really each of YOU to stop them!
Please crosspost.
__________________________________

HB 3180 and SB 1910: Breeder/Dealer Licensing and Regulation
AND
HB 4277 and SB 1845: Sterilization of all dogs/cats or $300 Permit

These bills are fundamentally flawed and cannot be fixed with amendments.

Fact is breeder licensing, breeding bans, and mandatory pet spay/neutering laws arise out of a radical, extremist philosophy - the philosophy of "animal rights."

Wayne Pacelle: (Vegan President, Humane Society of the US) "We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding."

Ingrid Newkirk: (Vegan Director, PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) "For one thing we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. If people had companion animals in their homes, these animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelter and the streets. But as the surplus of cats and dogs declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship - enjoyment at a distance."

Plank 10 of the Animal Rights Agenda is: "Stop any further breeding of companion animals, including purebred dogs and cats. Spaying and neutering should be subsidized by state and municipal governments. Abolish commerce in animals for the pet trade.
Eliminate pet ownership."

"Animal Rights" Extremists work 24/7 to legislate pet ownership out of existence. Propaganda is being spread by the extremists to create a crisis and get laws passed to end all use, breeding and ownership of animals for any reason whether you eat them, wear them or pet them.

Just give them a "tool," the extremists always say. It doesn't matter if proposed legislation states 10 or 100 intact dogs/cats allowed, their goal is to get the "tool" to end ALL pet breeding.

Animal Rights Extremists present information based on faulty assumptions and oftentimes lie outright to influence legislation. The extremists get city ordinances passed which are then enforced by "animal rights" volunteers who canvass neighborhoods. This is being considered at the present time in Dallas and San Antonio. Volunteers in Palm Beach County, FL will be given used uniforms and training to knock on doors and check all dogs and cats for sex organs.

With this type legislation, all dog and cat breeding is "at the discretion" of one city staff person -- the Animal Control Director in each city -- who can play God by selecting which breeds will become extinct. Legislation
proposed this session clearly exposes their agenda. This is not a "breeder" issue, it's a "pet" issue.

"Animal Rights" came to the U.S. from England where the extremists succeeded in getting Pedigree to cancel its 40-year sponsorship and BBC to suspend coverage of the Crufts Dog Show (entry of 28,000 dogs) following a biased documentary against pedigree dogs.

The extremists now want to END ALL U.S. DOG SHOWS AND PERFORMANCE EVENTS. PETA demonstrators dressed as Klansmen were at the Westminster Dog Show this year comparing AKC to the KKK. They also demonstrated at the Dallas Dog Show in 2008 against purebred dogs and dog breeders.

All of this is information your legislator should have before considering his vote on this legislation. We'll have more on our website later. They are always glad to talk to their constituents. When calling, ask for the person in charge of these bills.

Moderator cut: solicitation

FLORIDA Moderator cut: copyright info https://www.akc.org/news/index.cfm?article_id=3781

MASSACHUSETTS


Somerville Bark: The mighty pit bull — killer or clown? - Somerville, Massachusetts 02144 - Somerville Journal

[miu]

I think that because the human and pet population keeps increasing and having more conflicts and issues, added legislation is necessary. The humans have to become more responsible owners. The pets need to be neutered and spayed. To be honest, I LIKE the idea of intact male and female dogs and cats required a $300 permit. I just talked to a neighbor up the street. His white dog got loose a few days ago, but was found. Then his owner told me that he's never gotten around to neutering his male dog. Apparently he breaks free when he smells a female dog in heat. His dog is an older dog, and his owner thinks that it's not worth neutering him now.

There are too many unwanted pets in the shelters and feral cats. We also need cheaper spay and neutering options.

It's like owning and driving a car. The more crowded the roads or more densely populated the neighborhood, the more rules and lower speed limits. Driving is a privilege, so should owning a dog or a cat. If you don't like it, get a hamster or a goldfish for company.

[bigcats]

Gotta love it when people think we're in danger of "not enough pets" if we spay or neuter a few more. Clearly those people haven't spent any time really watching what goes on in just about every city and rural area at the hands of animal control and the money of the taxpayer.

I'd be quite happy if we got dangerously close to having not enough pets to satisfy the human population. When we reach that point then we can invite the breeders back in. But as long as some are being killed, no one should be insisting that we bring more and more and more and more into this world, and I don't care what breed it is. Canis familiaris is canis familiaris.

AKC is the very devil, as far as I'm concerned. Anything they're anti, I'm pro, and vice versa.

[luvmycat]

I disagree with mandatory spay/neuter at 4 months. It is too young, particularly for male cats who are prone to urinary issues. This is something I took up with the HSEP when I went there with the intention of volunteering...they spay/neuter at 8 weeks, and I just about had a heart attack when I found this out. The coordinator did not seem to be aware of the dangers of s/n so early, seemed very surprised at my reaction, and simply said they can not wait until animals are 5 or 6 months, they need to adopt them out as soon as they can and will not budge on doing the sterilization procedure prior to adoption. They wanted my help in the vet clinic of all places, which I was excited about until I realized I would be part something I simply do not agree with. As much as I agree the pet population needs to be gotten under control, I disagree with forcing animals into potential poor health to make that happen. I would never dream of sterilizing my animals before the 6 month mark, just like I dont fall for the overvaccinating going on everywhere, with animals AND humans. The key to getting pet owners to be responsible about this situation is 1. education and 2.more reasonable prices in real clinics where owners feel comfortable about having it done...the free van is just scary for some of us to think about even if it is free...! There are also health conditions (like anything bone-related) that make s/n especially detrimental for an animal...putting their health/quality of life on the back burner is wrong no matter how you cut it.

[Mearth]

I was very lucky- I adopted my dog at 5 months for a $100 fee, and the (no-kill) shelter had fixed her just a few days earlier. If they hadn't, it could have cost me an additional $270. Could they have waited another month though, to be safe? Sure. Would I have NOT adopted her if I had to pay for the surgery? No way.

All that said, I do think that limiting backyard breeding and designer dogs is necessary, to a point.

There are FAR too many animals in shelters and on the streets, and even though I adopted from a no-kill shelter, I still saved some other animal that wouldn't have been taken in due to a lack of space.

If you need a dog to reflect your fashion sense, you need to NOT own a dog.

[bigcats]

Luvmycat, I do it at 8 weeks (I'll do it even earlier if they hit the 2 pound mark at 7!). And that's my own, personal pets whom I would never do anything to harm and for whom I know I also would never allow to go get old enough to breed before neutering, so I'm not only doing it to shove them out the door for adoption, although as a foster mom who recognizes that an 8 week old kitten is far more marketable than a 6 month old one, I do it for that reason too).

I do it mainly because the recovery is awesome at that age. I've done hundreds of cats like that (mostly fosters and ferals, along with my own pets, other people's kittens when they need help, etc).

I would never dream of waiting until 6 months to alter an animal of mine, if I had the opportunity I wouldn't want to put their health/quality of life on the back burner by waiting. I disagree with forcing animals into potential poor health by waiting.

I'm glad so many vets are updating their education and knowledge about this issue.