Pennsylvania- Governor reassigns the Director of the Bureau of Dog Law

Pennsylvania's Gov. Ed Rendell is listening to Animal Rights Groups. Former Bureau of Dog Law, Mary Bender, listened to everyone. Who won this round? Clearly the Animal Rights.

PA.'s kennel chief reassigned
By Amy Worden
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - In a move applauded by animal-welfare advocates, Gov. Rendell has reassigned the director of the bureau of dog law - theperson responsible for enforcement in the state's 2,700 licensed kennels - to a new position within the Department of Agriculture. Mary Bender, who had served as the bureau's director since 2003, was named head of the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program, a new farmland-conservati on program within the department, Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said. Ardo would say only that it was a mutually agreed-upon transfer, but individuals who have advised the governor on ways to improve theproblem-plagued bureau say her removal was at the top of their list. "We always recommended wholesale changes in the bureau up to and including the director," said Bob Baker, an ASPCA investigator whoserved on the governor's ad hoc committee on dog law. He said lack of enforcement against kennels with serious and continuing violations, including unsanitary and hazardous conditions, had been a problem for decades. "The bureau would try to talk them into compliance, rather than prosecute them," Baker said. "All the talk and education has gottennowhere." The move comes almost a year after Rendell announced sweeping changes to the bureau's operations as part of his pledge to crack downon inhumane conditions in the state's large commercial dog-breeding facilities. A replacement for Bender has not yet been named.

Florida-- HB 101 now in Committee-

HB 101A bill to be entitled
An act relating to dangerous dogs; amending s. 767.14, F.S.; eliminating the prohibition of breed specific local government regulation of dangerous dogs; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 767.14, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 767.14 Additional local restrictions authorized. --Nothing in this act shall limit any local government from placing further restrictions or additional requirements on owners of dangerous dogs or developing procedures and criteria for the implementation of this act, provided that the provisions of this act are not lessened by suchadditional regulations or requirements. This section shall not apply to any local ordinance adopted priorto October 1, 1990.Section 2.
This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.

Is your Politician listening to PETA?

PETA is ratcheting up our campaign against cat and dog breeders, and this beautiful billboard (saying Breeders KILL shelter dog's chances) in New York is the first of a number of strong statements you can look for over the next few months designed to remind people that buying animals from breeders or pet stores when millions are dying in shelters is, simply put, irresponsible and cruel. Of course, the real villains here are the breeders themselves. Not only are these people directly contributing to the animal overpopulation epidemic in this country—they’re also making a tidy profit out of it (in case it’s not immediately clear, I don’t have an awful lot of sympathy for animal breeders). There’s some more information on this topic here, and I’ll keep you posted as this campaign progresses—we’ve got some great stuff on the way ...


This is from PETA's website. Are YOU contacting your local, state, and Fed. politicians to tell them the REAL story?

Proposed Changes to the City of San Antonio's Animal Ordinance

San Antonio Proposal Bad for All Dog Owners

The American Kennel Club and its Texas federation of dog owners, the Responsible Pet Owners Alliance, are deeply concerned about the proposed changes to the City of San Antonio's animal ordinance. These changes, as will be proposed by the city's Animal Care Services Advisory Board, unfairly target responsible dog breeders and owners, have no chance of improving the quality of life for animals, and will have a significant negative impact on San Antonio's economy. It is imperative that breeders and concerned dog owners in San Antonio contact the Mayor and the members of the City Council to vehemently express their opposition.

The American Kennel Club supports reasonable and enforceable laws that govern dog ownership. We believe that the proposed animal ordinance is unreasonable, unenforceable, and a risk to the public welfare. Among its many onerous provisions, the current version of the proposal would require compliance with these most burdensome policies:

Mandate the spay/neuter of all dogs. In the alternative, owners would be required to annually purchase both a license ($75) and an intact permit ($50) for each unsterilized dog. Totaling $125, this is twelve-and-one-half times more expensive than the annual fees owners of a sterilized dog will be required to pay ($10). Egregiously high fees, like those that would be imposed by this proposal, make spaying and neutering de facto mandatory because only a small number of people could afford to pay such high fees.

Classify most kennels as a "commercial kennel" and impose considerable regulations upon such facilities. As currently defined by the proposal, most places where dogs are kept could reasonably qualify as commercial kennels, including homes of many hobby breeders and rescue groups. Such facilities will be subsequently subject to currently undefined license fees for such establishments, unreasonable building standards that will be impossible for smaller breeders and dog owners who maintain dogs in their own residential premises to comply with, and unproven animal husbandry standards that risk transfer of infectious and contagious diseases.

Require any person who breeds a female dog to obtain a $50 litter permit prior to, or within ten days of, a litter's birth. Such permit is limited to one litter per female dog per year. AKC wholeheartedly opposes this provision. Breeders are already regulated under existing ordinances for pet limits, animal nuisance laws, and cruelty laws. As such, additionally burdens on responsible breeders are unnecessary.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact the Mayor and the members of the San Antonio City Council who will consider this proposal. Tell them that you are against the proposed changes to San Antonio's animal ordinance. Mail all letters to:

[Recipient]
City of San Antonio
P.O. Box 839966San Antonio, TX 78283

For a sample letter, click here.

Mayor Phil Hardberger
Phone: (210) 207-7060
Fax: (210) 207-4168
E-mail: phardberger@sanantonio.gov

City Manager Sheryl Sculley
Phone: (210) 207-7080
Fax: (210) 207-4217
E-mail: citymanager@sanantonio.gov

Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros
Phone: (210) 207-7279
Fax: (210) 207- 6931
E-mail: maryalice.cisneros@sanantonio.gov

Councilwoman Sheila McNeil
Phone: (210) 207-7278
Fax: (210) 207-4496
E-mail: district2@sanantonio.gov

Councilman Roland Gutierrez
Phone: (210) 207-7064
Fax: (210) 534-1931
E-mail: district3@sanantonio.gov

Councilman Philip Cortez
Phone: (210) 207-7281
Fax: (210) 678-0099
E-mail: district4@sanantonio.gov

Councilwoman Lourdes Galvan
Phone: (210) 207-7043
Fax: (210) 212-4860
E-mail: district5@sanantonio.gov

Councilwoman Delicia Herrera
Phone: (210) 207-7065
Fax: (210) 207-8760
E-mail: district6@sanantonio.gov

Councilman Justin Rodriguez
Phone: (210) 207-7044
Fax: (210) 207-8181
E-mail: district7@sanantonio.gov

Councilwoman Diane Cibrian
Phone: (210) 207-708
Fax: (210) 949-0439
E-mail: diane.cibrian@sanantonio.gov

Councilman Kevin Wolff
Phone: (210) 207-7325
Fax: (210) 207-7027
E-mail: kwolff@sanantonio.gov

Councilman John Clamp
Phone: (210) 207-7276
Fax: (210) 207-8777
E-mail: john.clamp@sanantonio.gov

For more information, contact the Responsible Pet Owners Alliance at rpoa@texas.net; or contact the AKC's Canine Legislation Department at (919) 816-3720, or e-mail doglaw@akc.org.