Alert 1/17/08 One Defeat – Opposition Out in Force
Yesterday, before the full House Ag Committee, our bill to re-instate the humane investigator program (House Bill 464) bill was defeated. The bill was “tabled” which means it can only be resurrected this session by having a Ag Committee member move for untabling it, or if a new bill is introduced in the Senate by a Senate patron. We don’t have a Senator who will patron this.
Should you want to see the HB464, click here:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=081&typ=bil&val=hb464
The bill language was incorrect, and did not conform to the outline we used to “spec” our bills. This is our fault for not checking more carefully, but that would have been easily fixed if there was good faith interest in passage. There wasn’t.
While we gave a reasoned and honest presentation (setting forth program attributes of “free”, “necessary”, “permissive”, and “carefully and closely supervised”), there was opposition from all the usual suspects, this time joined by the Agribusiness Council and the Virginia Hunting Dog Federation. It was a parade.
Our opposition was unconstrained by truth, and the Ag Committee didn’t seem to care. Opposition statements were intended to be scary and were patently untrue. Bob Kane said there would be no supervision of rogue humane investigators who will forthwith come onto a property and seize animals, the HI’s would not be properly trained (if trained at all), and so on. Tom Evans said his time as Animal Control Officer and in law enforcement was FULL of examples of such rogue behavior. (Does anyone know where or when Mr. Evans was an ACO and in law enforcement?) A Farm Bureau lobbyist stand-in (Martha Mitchell was taking Thomas Jefferson around the building - true; next year she’ll probably have Elvis) also warned of rampant rogue behavior and dire consequences, and the Agribusiness lobbyist endorsed everything Kane, Evans and the Mitchell wannabe said. The Hunting Dog Federation lobbyist (does anyone know his name?) solemnly and rather unctuously intoned that “you get what you pay for”, a summary disposition regarding the use of all volunteers, everywhere.
Amazing that getting help for abused animals is so frightening to Kane, Evans, Farmers and Agribusiness. How grateful the lobbyists’ clients must be that they have been saved yet again from rogues and vigilantes. Who could have imagined that preventing abuse will inexorably result in the demise of farms and mandatory veganism.
Yesterday is the taste of things to come.
The opposition fears our bills and the Ag Committee membership doesn’t think you and animal welfare have anywhere near the importance of the Farm Bureau or Agribusiness.
Don’t you? Do you agree with that assessment of animal welfare?
Action:
The way to combat this? Volume. Many, many of you contacting legislators.
1. If you haven’t already thanked Del. David B. Albo who patroned the bill, please do so: DelDAlbo@house.state.va.us
2. Please let every member of the House Ag Committee know you are angry at the outcome. Every member of the committee with the exception of Del. David Bulova voted against HB464.
A list of the members of the House Ag Committee is at the bottom of this alert.
3. Push on your local jurisdictions – your Board of Supervisors, the County Administrator – and let them know that humane investigators benefit them. Ask them to be vocal. Silence, from you or from them, will result in unchecked animal abuse cases indefinitely, especially with an Animal Control that is underpaid, under-resourced, under-trained and in many cases under-prepared to enforce the law. Vick wasn’t turned by ACOs but by feds.
Remember that.
4. Thanks for making these contact. Please get as many more involved as you can. Legislators count contacts. Their constituents (read that to mean the votes constituents can deliver in the next election) are their lifeblood!
Previews:
We are checking on the status of bills to be heard next week.
Lillian Clancy and Don Marro
______________________
House Ag Committee
Harvey Morgan, Chairman
Bouchard, Joseph F.
DelJBouchard@house.state.va.us
Bulova, David L.
Cox, M. Kirkland
Eisenberg, Albert C.
DelAEisenberg@house.state.va.us
Hogan, Clarke N.
Lewis, Lynwood W.
Lohr, Matthew J.
Marshall, Daniel W.
DelDMarshall@house.state.va.us
Mathieson, Robert W.
DelBMathieson@house.state.va.us
Orrock, Robert D.
Plum, Kenneth R.
Pogge, Brenda
Poindexter, Charles D.
DelCPoindexter@house.state.va.us
Saxman, Christopher B.
Scott, Edward T.
Shannon, Stephen C.
Sherwood, Beverly J.
DelBSherwood@house.state.va.us
Shuler, James M.
Vanderhye, Margaret
DelMVanderhye@house.state.va.us
Ware, R. Lee
DelLWare@house.state.va.us
Wright, Thomas C.