in the news - "Animal Rights" Bills to be filed in TX!
by jls41 » Mon Jan 03, 2011 3:09 pm
Looks like they are getting cranked up!!! Everyone better be ready!!!
January 1, 2011
We would like to wish you a Happy New Year but the 82nd Session of the Texas
Legislature which convenes January 11th will once again be a minefield of
many "animal rights" bills being filed. Let's hope we can celebrate on June
1st when the legislature adjourns as we did last session!
The Animal Abusers Registry mentioned below clearly demonstrates the radical
agenda of Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), an "animal rights" national
organization of attorneys dedicated to obtaining legal "personhood" for
animals in the courts equal to humans. The ramifications would be
startling. Pet ownership is "slavery" they say.
ALDF is very active in Texas through the Texas State Bar's Animal Section,
Texas Humane Legislation Network and Robert (Skip) Trimble, THLN's
legislative chair and former ALDF chairman.
This article below appeared in both the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio
Express-News but the SA newspaper has some extra paragraphs at the end with
quotes by "Skip" Trimble (THLN) and Mary Beth Duerler (RPOA). Please
"educate" these newspapers:
Letters to the Editor (SA Express-News):
letters@express-news.netLetters to Houston Chronicle:
viewpoints@chron.comYou must give name, address & phone number for confirmation. Keep it brief
but do let the newspapers know they are being duped by THLN. This is a
national anti-pet legislation agenda by HSUS and other animal rights
organizations.
...........................................................
http://tinyurl.com/33xlebrPlan would treat animal abusers like sex offenders
Rockets owner Alexander backs registry for felons
By PEGGY FIKAC
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
and
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Jan. 1, 2011, 7:53AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/7361450.htmlAUSTIN - People convicted of felony animal cruelty offenses would have to
register just like sex offenders do under a proposal being pushed by Houston
Rockets owner Les Alexander.
Alexander is one of the advocates hoping lawmakers take time to focus on
animal welfare in the upcoming legislative session.
"A predator is a predator, if it's against a human or it's against an
animal," said Alexander, who in 2007 put muscle behind toughening Texas'
animal-cruelty law.
The registry proposal hasn't yet been filed. Four Houston lawmakers plan to
carry it forward: Democratic Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John
Whitmire, Republican Sen. Joan Huffman, Democratic Rep. Senfronia Thompson
and Republican Rep. Beverly Woolley.
Among other pet-related proposals is a revival of the so-called puppy mill
bill, which would create a state regulatory program to license and set
minimum standards for commercial breeders. The measure's still being
drafted.
Thompson plans to carry it as she did in 2009, when it died after being
opposed by veterinarians and a group including hobby breeders. This time,
the Texas Veterinary Medical Association has helped work on a new version of
the measure, which is a priority of the Texas Humane Legislation Network.
"I want to make sure the puppies that are being sold are healthy animals,
that they are being treated in a humane way," Thompson said.
A separate bill that has already been filed would allow pets to be added to
protective orders in family violence cases.
Tally is not complete
Some of the measures have been tried before, but the registry effort is new.
Lobbyist Bill Miller, pushing the idea for Alexander, said no other state
has passed it. A registry has been approved in New York State's Suffolk
County.
The idea would work like the Texas registry that makes information public
about sex offenders, though it might be tiny in comparison.
Texas has 62,971 registered sex offenders. Since the animal cruelty law was
toughened in 2007, just 24 people have been sent to the Texas Department of
Criminal justice for cruelty to non-livestock animals.
But that tally is incomplete. It doesn't include those simultaneously
serving time for an animal-cruelty felony and another crime with a longer
sentence. It also doesn't include those who receive deferred adjudication,
who also would be required to register. Those figures couldn't be obtained
Thursday.
"A list has to start somewhere, with someone," Miller said. "It will be a
deterrent and a valuable tool" for checking on potential pet owners.
Backers cited a connection between animal abuse and violence toward people.
"As a former prosecutor and judge, I am aware that those with a history of
animal abuse may potentially commit future violent acts," Huffman said in a
statement.
In a bow to the tough fiscal times, it's envisioned as being funded by
donations and gifts. Alexander said he'll "be chipping in big."
Woolley in a statement called the registry "another step toward stopping
some child predators. Studies show that child predators begin as animal
abusers. . To be the first state to achieve this, without using general
revenue, relying solely on private donations, makes this bill a good way to
usher good feelings into the Legislature."
'High-tech Scarlet Letter'
Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project, however, called it "one of
the more inane legislative ideas I've heard."
"The idea of criminal justice is you commit the crime, you pay the penalty.
Why do you have this ongoing punishment with the registry? It becomes like a
high-tech Scarlet Letter," Harrington said.
The so-called puppy mill measure would set up state licensing and regulation
for commercial breeders. The U.S. Department of Agriculture currently
oversees breeders who sell wholesale, but there's no regulation of those who
sell retail.
Skip Trimble of the Texas Human Legislation Network said the measure
wouldn't affect hobby breeders and would apply only to those who have 11 or
more breeding females and sell their offspring.
Mary Beth Duerler of the Responsible Pet Owners Alliance voiced concern over
what she called the "agenda" of those who have pushed the measure.
"These extremists do not want you to use animals for any reason, whether you
eat 'em, wear 'em or pet 'em," she said.
Legislation
. Legislation allowing pets to be added to protective orders has been filed
as Senate Bill 279 and House Bill 323.
. Other proposals, such as one to create a registry of people convicted of
felony animal cruelty, will be assigned numbers when they're filed in the
Legislature.
pfikac@express-news.net
