7/27/08

The animal welfare regional meeting (VVAW/VAW and VFHS) met at 11:10 am on Sunday, 7/27/08 at the Reston Regional Library in Reston, VA.

In attendance: * denotes member of Virginia Voters for Animal Welfare Board of Directors

Azar Attura

Diane Bonham

Ann Church

*Lillian Clancy

Jeanette Davias

Dale Goodson

Mary Harper

Joan Hughes

Cindy Ingram

Virginia Kilmer

*Kim Kincheloe

Kim Lockhart

Gary Loewenthal

*Don Marro

Debbie Marson

Pam McAlwee

*Mollie McCurdy

Dana Meeker

Ann Plamondon

Mary Portelly

Lisa Qualls

Bonnie R____?

David Range

Becky Robinson

Susan Spaulding

Yoliya Sysoyeva

Edith vonStuemer

Lisa Walthers

Betty Weakland

*Pat Weakland

Kristie Wood

Tammy Zaluzney

Mary Zoeter

The meeting was called to order by Virginia Kilmer, the meeting facilitator. Virginia told something of her VFHS group, as did other hosts (Lisa Qualls/Action for Animal Network, Mary Harper/Loudoun Shelter Watch, Dana Meeker/NoVA SPCA, Kristie Wood/Friends of Homeless Animals, and Pam McAlwee/Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation.

Becky Robinson, head of Alley Cat Allies, also presented information about her group, mentioning that most states, unlike Virginia, do not have animal reporting requirements, so most states have no idea of the dimensions of their pet overpopulation problems. This means that licensure compliance is likewise not known. Becky noted that money generated by the sale of license plates is frequently not spent.

The video portion of the meeting then took place.

Kathy Strouse/VACA gave her overview of bills that were passed.

Michelle Welch/VFHS gave her review of the animal fighting bill.

Don Marro’s videos on the RICO bill and gas followed.

Sharon Adams/Virginia Beach SPCA’s puppymill bill was next.

Susanne Kogut’s bond bill video was played.

Last was the water bill video by Debra Griggs.

Once the videos were finished, a discussion of topics leading to initiatives took place.

Cindy Ingram spoke of wealthy farmers in Clarke County that are not helping with kittens but are merely rounding them up, paying a drop-off fee, and leaving the work of medical care, s/n and adoptions to her and others like her.

Susan Spaulding indicated both enforcement and money is needed to get things done, and money not being spent contributes to the problem.

Azar Attura mentioned the federal “Baby” bill which deals with puppymills nationally.

Pat Weakland urged attendees unfamiliar with getting a bill prepared and introduced should read “Birth of a Bill” which is a handout at the meeting and also on the VVAW website.

Lisa Walthers mentioned that a federal law was recently passed that prevents importing foreign companion animals.

Susan Spaulding would like to see more effort put into educating adopters. Noting some places do a good job, she feels there is work to do in this area. Virginia Kilmer noted that VFHS helps shelters improve and will assess shelters, which might be of use for this issue.

Ann Plamondon suggested introducing a bill that would address dogs left in hot cars. It would be part of the animal cruelty code. Ann has given this request to Sen. Patsy Ticer (Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee), providing Sen. Ticer with the language of such a law in Maryland. Ann was urged to quickly get Sen. Ticer’s commitment to patron the bill. This issue was added to the list of potential initiatives.

Ann Church had questions about where the money goes that might be used for animal welfare. Don Marro suggested an audit of funds would answer such questions. This was a potential initiative to be added to the list.

Kim Lockhart wondered if it might be made illegal to charge for a drop off at a public pound, on the premise that such fees may provoke abandonment to those unwilling to pay.

Jeanette Davias suggested that proposed laws have a section in them to indicate how the bill would be funded. Don said that every piece of proposed legislation gets a fiscal impact statement attached to it which is created by the enforcing agency. The fiscal impact statement estimates the money necessary to enforce the law. There are dedicated funding sources for animal welfare, but since compliance and enforcement are often insufficient, additional funding must come from property taxes. Don would prefer that funding is self-sustaining in much the way DGIF (Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries) fully funds itself through licensing.

A question was asked about the two potential legislative topics having to do with spay/neuter. Pat Weakland indicated that one of the topics has a focus on s/n as it relates to animals being adopted from back yard breeders and pet shops.

Cindy Ingram says there are not enough vets to help.

Mary Harper would like to find a way to provide an incentive to vets. The bill from the last 2 sessions providing a tax credit to vets who donate services to “c3” organizations was mentioned. Don suggested attendees ask their own vet to support such a bill and get their proxies in support since the VVMA (Virginia Veterinary Medical Association) has not promoted this bill and not every practicing vet is a member of VVMA.

Jeanette Davias thought the vet tax credit bill was defeated because of its adverse financial impact. Don noted that the costs were absorbed fully, calculations showing how much could be saved in consequence of spay-neuters. Jeanette asked for a copy of the bill from 2008.

Gary Loewenthal wondered who are the major offenders for introducing intact animals. Lillian noted there are counties in VA with no vets at all. Kim Kincheloe noted that a lack of vets is a continuing problem, and suggested that vets should be taught high volume s/n while in vet school. Kim is looking for a way to focus on high volume s/n, and developing a pool of vets to draw from to perform such procedures.

Susan Spaulding suggested adding a potential bill making declawing of a cat illegal. Kim suggested it could be part of an anti-mutilation law which would include declawing and such things as ear cropping and tail docking. This became another initiative added to the list.

Several new topics were added to the list of potential bills for the 2009 session. People were encouraged to sign up for the topics about which they are both passionate and willing to work.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 pm.