8/10/08
The animal welfare regional meeting (VVAW/VAW and VFHS) met at 11:00 am on Sunday, 8/10/08, at the PermaTreat Building on Lafayette Boulevard in Fredericksburg.
In attendance: * denotes member of Virginia Voters for Animal Welfare Board of Directors
*Lillian Clancy
*Peyton Coyner
Darla DiPietro
Trudie Eklund
Gayle Elliott
Maureen Federico
Mary Cay Hale
Aldene Helwick
Brandy Henderson
Coletta Henderson
Bill Hoyt
*Kim Kincheloe
Jerry Logan, Member, Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors
*Donald Marro
*Mollie McCurdy
Nichole Reid
Robin Reid
Trish Schornagel
Susan Sullivan
Marty VanDuyen
Rebecca Warwick
Betty Weakland
*Pat Weakland
The meeting was called to order by Lillian Clancy, who acted as facilitator, at 11:00 am.
Don Marro briefly recapped the reason for the meeting: to review animal welfare legislation enacted in 2008 by Virginia’s General Assembly, and to plan legislation to pursue in 2009.
To review 2008, a combination of video and live presentations followed.
The first video was by Kathy Strouse, the Legislative Liaison for VACA (Virginia Animal Control Association). It presented brief information about bills which dealt with gas chambers (HB5), limits pound inspections to the part where animals are housed (HB207), destruction of rabies receipts once recorded (HB537), the puppymill bill (HB538), allowing judicial discretion in determining whether a dog is dangerous (HB655), the animal fighting bill (HB656), the bond bill (HB999), and recodification of animal laws (HB1331). Kathy also covered successful animal welfare bills from the Senate. Included were the RICO bill (SB26), the Senate version of the animal fighting bill (SB532), and a bill allowing an increase of fees for habitual offenders (SB663).
A video by Sharon Adams, Executive Director of the Virginia Beach SPCA, was shown next and elaborated on the puppymill bill(HB538). Discussed was the bill’s focus on “breed for greed”, regulation of breeding (age and health), disposal of dogs, conditions in which dogs have lived, and inspections (not mandatory, but authorized without probable cause). A discussion followed about puppymills, and Brandy Henderson mentioned Puppymill Awareness Day on Sept. 19 and 20 in Lancaster, PA, an event she will attend. Don noted the conference of the American Veterinary Association in New Orleans at the end of July.
Don explained how a bill gets “patroned” or “sponsored”. The puppymill and gas chamber bills were both patroned by Del. Bobby Orrock who was previously in opposition to most if not all animal welfare bills. Reasons for Del. Orrock’s change were speculated to include the horrific Vick Schmucker and Horton incidents with groups like VVAW/VAW active in keeping the animal welfare pot boiling.
The video by Michelle Welch, Legislative Liaison of the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies (VFHS) was shown next. Cock and dog fighting are both now illegal in Virginia. Organized animal fighting, fighting where gambling goes on, and allowing minors to attend animal fights are all class 6 felonies. Don noted that animal fighting can also be prosecuted under the RICO statute, and if the Commonwealth Attorney brings charges under RICO, the penalties are much stiffer.
Don spoke briefly about HB5 which eliminated gas chambers in Virginia, and SB26, the RICO bill covering animal fighting.
The final video presentation was by Debra Griggs who discussed “the water bill” (HB673) which requires water to be available and accessible.
The review of 2008 legislation was followed by remarks by Jerry Logan, a member of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors. He urged participation in efforts that were the focus of the meeting. He suggested that the best way to get a response from one’s elected officials is by using email rather than phone calls. He mentioned, as had Don earlier, that when you communicate, give the reasons for your complaint or suggestion, and include information and facts.
Peyton Coyner asked Supervisor Logan about reintroduction of the humane investigator program, saying that local support for the program from local elected officials would be very useful. Supervisor Logan suggested working with VACo (Virginia Association of Counties), and to make sure that county boards of supervisors across the state know the interest people have in resurrecting the humane investigator program.
Pat Weakland spoke about spay/neuter issues and releasing agencies, noting he would like the definition of releasing agencies changed to include puppymills, backyard breeders and pet shops in addition to pounds, shelters, and rescues.
Kim Kincheloe also talked about s/n programs. The cost of custody, care and killing animals in local public pounds comes from property taxes. The cost in 2006 to Virginia was $62 million to house and euthanize 150,000 cats and dogs. A large number of veterinarians are not willing to participate in low cost s/n programs, and it was suggested that a tax credit for participating vets might induce more vets to help.
The meeting then moved on to issues the group might want to pursue for 2009. The following topics were mentioned:
1. releasing agencies bill
2. tethering bill; it was pointed out by Gayle Elliott that in new housing developments there may be the power to restrict tethering and impose penalties
3. humane investigator bill
4. license fee cap change
5. T NR programs
6. hunting dog identification
7. humane ed programs
8. penalties for pounds and shelters that do not report their statistics, or do not report their statistics correctly
9. tax credits for vets contributing their services to c3 groups
10. penalties for locking dogs in hot cars
11. banning roadside sales of puppies
NOTE: this was a new topic
At the end of the discussion about topics for initiatives, Bill Hoyt spoke about building a no-kill shelter in Stafford County. He has purchased a former nursing home and surrounding land and plans to renovate and build a 6,000 – 7,000 square foot shelter. He invited the group to work along with him and be aware of what he is trying to do.
The attendees were then asked to sign up on the initiative topic sheets, and by signing, indicate they were willing to work on that topic.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:10 pm.