3/4/07
VVAW met at 11 am on Sunday, 3/4/07, at the
Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA in
In attendance:
Carole Adams
Johnny Adams
*Lillian Clancy
*Peyton Coyner
*Kim Kincheloe
Kay Lawman
*Don Marro
Margaret Marsh
*Mollie McCurdy
Bob Parrott
Laverne Parrott
Mary Ann Piatkowski
Lorelei Pulliam
Dick Samuel
Betty Weakland
*Pat Weakland
Steve Weintraub
* before name denotes member of Virginia Voters for Animal Welfare Board of Directors
Lillian Clancy brought the meeting to order, and the meeting began by each person giving a brief background of themselves and their experience in animal welfare.
Don Marro led the meeting thereafter.
1. Don discussed the strategy of having more than a single bill initiated in recent sessions of the General Assembly.
Multiple bills provide an opportunity to educate both members of the General Assembly and the public at large.
Multiple bills also can attract and recruit people to the goals of VVAW; people can find in an array of bills one or two that grab their interest and prompt their involvement.
Pat Weakland’s success at driving a bill in the last session without prior experience in legislative work was pointed out as a model.
2. Discussion about the experiences in recently completed session were discussed with major focus on the failure of the gas chamber bill. With 41 co-patrons it was anticipated to pass.
Kim Kincheloe indicated that she was told in a conversation she and several other VVAW people had with Del. Bobby Orrock prior to the hearing on the gas chamber bill that the bill would not pass. Instead there would be money made available to assist the places still using gas chambers to transition to euthanasia by injection. Kim counseled Del. Orrock to check on the credibility of such assistance as such funding had been promised before and was not forthcoming.
3. A discussion of the groups which have opposed VVAW followed, with a status report on where some success has taken place in working with groups that earlier opposed VVAW. For instance, the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies supported VVAW’s bill to eliminate gas chambers.
Carole Adams mentioned HSUS had supported some VVAW bills, and ASPCA supported some as well.
4. There was a request to republish the article Don wrote for Cooperative Living called “Virginia Has Too Many Pets”, describing the article as one that “tells it like it is”.
5. Lorelei Pulliam wondered if VVAW, in an attempt to broaden its base, had considered having bumper stickers advocating VVAW.
When asked if she would be the person to develop such bumper stickers, she agreed to do so.
Bob Parrot suggested that “reasonable control” is vital, and that even the words used in a bumper sticker be approved prior to being put on cars.
6. Bob Parrot told of the significant increase in support a group he had worked with was able to gain by writing notes by hand and requesting a follow-up meeting in person with each person so reached.
7. A general discussion of how VVAW chooses bills to promote followed.
8. Dick Samuels asked whether VVAW had considered opposing the use of animals for testing product and identified Covance, a company with a facility in Cumberland County, as doing a great deal of such testing.
VVAW could work on such an issue if there was general support for so doing.
9. Steve Weintraub would like a bill in the next session which would raise the abandonment of companion animals from a misdemeanor to a felony.
He also discussed the outcome of the bill requiring the reporting of suspected dog fighting. Don answered by saying we will need to be better prepared and ideally have experts available to testify on such bills.
Steve also brought up the tethering bill and the opposition to it by the Farm Bureau.
10. In general, attendees were asked to look to the coming November election and see how the outcome can either be influenced, or how working on an incumbent’s campaign may make that legislator more friendly to animal welfare issues.
Directing attention to those hearing the majority of VVAW bills was suggested.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:10 pm.