February 18, 2011
Dallas Morning News Quotes RPOA!
(The common ground referred to by the reporter of the article below is among
the "animal rights" organizations, not with RPOA.)
REMINDER: Our RPOA "Responsible Pet Owners Lobby Day" at the Capitol is
this Thursday, February 24th! All information can be found at the "LOBBY
CORNER" Tab on our home page:
www.rpoatexasoutreach.org . Email
jacque15@att.net if you can attend but come anyway if it's a last minute
decision.
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"Parties Find Common Ground on Animal-Rights Legislation"
Dallas Morning News, February 18, 2011
By Erin Mulvaney
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20110217-parties-find-common-ground-on-animal-rights-legislation.eceAUSTIN - The legislative session is rife with hard-line partisan battles,
but one issue - protecting animals - has united lawmakers from the far right
and left of the political spectrum.
Reps. Senfronia Thompson, a liberal Democrat from Houston, and Wayne
Christian, a conservative Republican from East Texas, have each authored
legislation endorsed by statewide and national animal rights groups that
pushed their platform at the Capitol on Thursday.
"Here in Texas, we may have our voter identification and
[abortion-restriction] bills, but this shows we still have some common
ground," said Christian's chief of staff, Jon McClellan.
The Humane Society of the United States , the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Texas Humane Legislation Network
endorsed Thompson's bill that would require a large-scale commercial dog or
cat breeder to have a license. Christian's measure would establish penalties
for cockfighting.
"I'm sure anyone from any party would want this, whether they are Democrat,
Republican, independent or in the tea party," Thompson said.
That doesn't mean there's no opposition, though, given the state's
historically loose regulation of animal control, said ASPCA governmental
relations director Jill Buckley. The same measures were filed two years ago
and faced fierce opposition, partly from breeders and ranchers.
Mary Beth Duerler, executive director of the Responsible Pet Owners
Alliance, said certain animal rights groups have an agenda to end all pet
ownership.
"They equate animal ownership to slavery," she said.
She sent a letter to her group, which includes pet owners, breeders,
ranchers and herders, warning of organizations that are "opposed to eating
meat, wearing leather, hunting, fishing and our Texas rodeo."
Still, Republican Jim Pitts from Waxahachie is one of the co-sponsors of
Thompson's bill, and Democratic Rep. Eddie Lucio from Brownsville is
co-sponsoring Christian's cockfighting measure.
Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, authored a bill endorsed by the groups that
would require a bitter agent be added to antifreeze to prevent animals from
drinking it.
Animal rights legislation doesn't have a partisan tint to it, he said, but
other issues may overshadow such bills this year.
"Last time I checked, cats and dogs don't have a vote. A lot of times,
that's
what a lot of us think," he said.
Measures endorsed Thursday by the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society of the United States and the Texas
Humane Legislation Network:
Puppy mills: Would require a breeder with 11 or more breeding females to
obtain a license. The breeder's facility would have to have an annual
inspection.
Cockfighting: Would categorize cockfighting as an organized criminal
activity, subject to a misdemeanor or felony charge.
Antifreeze: Would require the addition of a bitter flavor agent to engine
coolant or antifreeze to prevent poisoning of animals and children.
