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Title: TDHA ALERT, HB 1451 is in committee, **UPDATE** Post by: Silverton Boar Dogs on March 11, 2011, 06:48:29 pm This Bill is in committee, TDHA is asking everyone to take the time to call each committee member and ask them to vote NO on HB 1451 every call counts and only takes a minute, trust me you will feel good when you hang up the phone.
TEXAS ALERT – HB 1451 HEARING SCHEDULED MARCH 15 Dear SAOVA friends, HB 1451 Commercial Dog & Cat Breeder Act has been scheduled for a hearing at 8:00 AM Tuesday, March 15 by the Licensing & Administrative Committee in Room E2-012 in the Capitol Building. SYNOPSIS HSUS-Funded Representative Senfronia Thompson (D, 141) filed HB 1451, a bill to regulate Texas dog and cat breeders. HB 1451 is supported by a coalition of animal rights groups including HSUS, PETA, ASPCA, and Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN). “Commercial breeder” is defined as a person who possesses 11 or more intact female dogs or cats over 6 months of age. Ownership is capped at 50 intact animals without approval by the state, additional facility requirements and additional fees. Criminal background checks for both kennel owners and staff would be required for kennel license approval. A kennel license can be denied, suspended, or revoked for any infraction of the regulations or record-keeping rules or failure to complete a corrective action in the time allotted in an inspection report. Breeding females must have adequate rest between breeding cycles and a yearly veterinary exam. HB 1451 is only an outline of intended future regulations. The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation would be required to adopt the rules, standards, procedures, and fees necessary to implement the Act by March 31, 2012. Future rules and regulations established must meet or exceed current federal regulations for the handling, care, treatment, and transportation of dogs and cats. OPPOSITION POINTS * Increasingly animal rights activists have broadened the term “puppy mill” until anyone who breeds a dog is fair game for attack. Even someone who only breeds an occasional litter is at risk of being labeled as a dreaded “puppy mill” by activists who do not approve of breeding or procreation in the first place. * January 2011 the Texas legislature unveiled a budget which cuts $31 billion in spending to close the state's massive budget deficit estimated to be between $15 and $27 billion. Education, health and human services, and the criminal justice department will be hard hit and thousands of government jobs will be eliminated. It is unconscionable for lawmakers to even consider trading scarce funds for human needs and services in order to implement a costly kennel inspection program. * Third party inspectors can include state agencies, animal control personnel, and any local law enforcement official including firemen. The wide variety of backgrounds, ability, experience, and resources for such a diverse source of inspectors should be of concern to dog and cat breeders who may be included in the proposed rules and regulations. * HB 1451 requires licensure and inspection of kennels and catteries for simply owning intact dogs/cats even if breeding is occasional. Owners who breed even one or two litters a year or those who breed dogs to be used as working dogs, security dogs, herding dogs, livestock guardian dogs, service dogs, as well as dogs and cats for family pets will be severely impacted by the enormous cost of ordinance-compliant facilities. * Inspectors are not required to provide advance notice to a commercial breeder before arriving at the facility. * Requires each adult intact female animal be provided with adequate rest between breeding cycles, but “adequate” is not defined. Frequency of breeding is a decision that should be made by the owner in consultation with the owner’s veterinarian and not by legislative mandate. More talking points along with contact information for committee members can be found at the SAOVA website: http://www.saova.org/TexasHB1451.html ACTION REQUIRED Call the Committee Clerk, Jeff Madden (512) 463-0798, and ask to be registered as Opposed to HB 1451. Call, fax, and email committee members. Use the email link on the SAOVA webpage to contact all committee members at one time. Call your representative and oppose this bill. COMMITTEE CONTACTS Chairman Rep. Mike Hamilton Phone: 512-463-0412 Fax: 512-463-1915 mike.hamilton@house.state.tx.us Vice Chair Rep. Chente Quintanilla Phone: 512-463-0613 Fax: 512-463-1237 chente.quintanilla@house.state.tx.us Members: Rep. Joe Driver Phone: 512-463-0574 Fax: 512-463-1481 joe.driver@house.state.tx.us Rep. Charlie Geren Phone: 512-463-0610 Fax: 512-463-8310 charlie.geren@house.state.tx.us Rep. Roland Gutierrez Phone: 512-463-0452 Fax: 512-463-1447 roland.gutierrez@house.state.tx.us Rep. Patricia Harless Phone: 512-463-0496 Fax: 512-463-1507 patricia.harless@house.state.tx.us Rep. John Kuempel Phone: 512-463-0602 Fax: 512-480-0391 john.kuempel@house.state.tx.us Rep. Jose Menendez Phone: 512-463-0634 Fax: 512-463-7668 jose.menendez@house.state.tx.us Rep. Senfronia Thompson Phone: 512-463-0720 Fax: 512-463-6306 senfronia.thompson@house.state.tx.us CROSS POSTING IS ENCOURAGED Title: Re: TDHA ALERT, HB 1451 is in committee, call now Post by: Silverton Boar Dogs on March 13, 2011, 03:10:24 am ttt
Title: Re: TDHA ALERT, HB 1451 is in committee, call now Post by: Silverton Boar Dogs on March 14, 2011, 04:48:35 pm Public meeting is tomorrow. The animal rights crowd is bombarding the committee with support.
WE NEED ALL WHO CARE TO E-MAIL AND CALL TODAY Title: Re: TDHA ALERT, HB 1451 is in committee, call now Post by: Silverton Boar Dogs on March 16, 2011, 01:51:47 pm I talked to the aid that is in control of and writing HB 1451. We had a good long talk and I found her to be very engaging and full of questions. She is working today on changing the wording to our advantage and I had quite a bit of input. She is changing the numbers and requirement to where a commercial breeder will be classified buy number of litters whelped and number of dogs sold and not solely based on the number of intact females. This is good news.
I also talked with her about a "working Dog" exemption being added to HB 1451 and she was very receptive and asked me to send her some language. I have e-mailed her a TDHA "working dog" definition and hope she can use that information in the wording of HB 1451. I mentioned HB 2833 and asked her opinion and how it could effect HB 1451 if it passed and she said that Mr. White and Mr. Comedy both realise that HB 2833 is going no where, her words, and that was a non-issue and that TDHA should work on getting exemptions added to proposed bills. Please don't sit on your hands because you think HB 2833 is going to get passed and save us, because that is not going to happen. There are major problems with 2833 and I don't think it has any chance of even getting to committee. How can you help? Call Thompson's office, (512) 463-0720, add tell the person that answers the phone that you want a working dog exemption to HB 1451. More updates as I have them. Thanks, Paul T Title: Re: TDHA ALERT, HB 1451 is in committee, call now Post by: Circle C on March 16, 2011, 02:33:44 pm I talked to the aid that is in control of and writing HB 1451. We had a good long talk and I found her to be very engaging and full of questions. She is working today on changing the wording to our advantage and I had quite a bit of input. She is changing the numbers and requirement to where a commercial breeder will be classified buy number of litters whelped and number of dogs sold and not solely based on the number of intact females. This is good news. I also talked with her about a "working Dog" exemption being added to HB 1451 and she was very receptive and asked me to send her some language. I have e-mailed her a TDHA "working dog" definition and hope she can use that information in the wording of HB 1451. I mentioned HB 2833 and asked her opinion and how it could effect HB 1451 if it passed and she said that Mr. White and Mr. Comedy both realise that HB 2833 is going no where, her words, and that was a non-issue and that TDHA should work on getting exemptions added to proposed bills. Please don't sit on your hands because you think HB 2833 is going to get passed and save us, because that is not going to happen. There are major problems with 2833 and I don't think it has any chance of even getting to committee. How can you help? Call Thompson's office, (512) 463-0720, add tell the person that answers the phone that you want a working dog exemption to HB 1451. More updates as I have them. Thanks, Paul T What are the numbers that are being discussed to qualify as a commercial breeder? Do you mind stating what problems you see with HB2833 and if she gave you any specific feedback as to why it is not going anywhere? What is the TDHA definition of a "working dog" so those of us who call can be on the same page? Title: Re: TDHA ALERT, HB 1451 is in committee, **UPDATE** Post by: Silverton Boar Dogs on March 16, 2011, 04:10:31 pm Chris, regarding numbers or litters whelped per year and number of dogs sold per year, her numbers, that she shared with me, were 6 litters or 25 dogs sold. This was not set in stone, she will be working on this bill untill continually untill it gets out of committee. I personally don't have a problem with the numbers at this level. I got along with her very well and expect some communication fro her and I will be checking on the progress with the changes and keep everyone here updated.
What do you think about those levels being the cut off for a commercial breeder? The problems with HB 2833 are numerous and it had zero chance of moving forward in the form it was filed in. I have been trying to offer help to LSWDA regarding the problems with HB 2833 while there was still some possibility of fixing it, but either LSWDA didn't believe me or did not think they needed any help. Your president has an e-mail with a few of my concerns listed, I don't want to discuss that in public. Lance and LSWDA did a great job getting the bill written and filled, but thats just one very small step in the process. In the process of trying to "help" with Lances bill, I re-wrote the bill fixing most of the problems and had it reviewed by an attorney. The product is not usable as a bill, because stand alone blanket exemption bills of this type and form are not accepted as far as I know. TDHA has been working on including "working Dog" exemptions in the bills currently being proposed. This is the intent of Lances bill and we are just working from the other side of things on a bill by bill basis. We are trying to come up with standard language, at this time, that can be used in all bills and presented to the aids that are writing or changing the bills. The trick is to get the language in perfect legal form with the correct wording so that the aids can basically just cut and paste without an revisions or changes necessary. |