PAWS Alert..

ANIMAL LAW ALERT
​

PAWS is back, and if we don't fight it now, it is very likely to become law. The first and best place to kill PAWS is to get SA 3723 removed on the Senate floor, where it is now. To do that, write to your own (U.S.) Senators asking that they remove SA 3723 from SA 3500.


This ALERT has everything you need to start.



This is IMPORTANT. Think of it as breeder licensing for all 50 states at a single whack; while it won't get the smallest breeders of dogs right away, it will be easily amended in future years to take out more of us. And home breeding of pedigreed cats will be gone from the beginning.

If passed, the amendment will effectively remove the care and nurture of pet animals from the security of our homes and force breeders to raise animals in an institutional environment that is not conducive to a sound, well socialized animal.



H.R. 2419 (House of Representatives bill 2419) is the 2007 farm bill; it would provide almost 300 BILLION dollars in government money for thousands of different purposes considered farm-related over a five year period but it also makes many other changes to federal law.
This bill has passed the House of Representatives and is now in the Senate where it has already been through the Senate Agriculture Committee. It is now being debated (a bit now and a bit then) on the Senate floor.
With that much money in play, the Senate naturally has its own ideas. Those ideas are in SA (Senate Amendment) 3500, "An amendment in the nature of a substitute" which translates as "This is what WE think the farm bill should look like." Nobody on earth has read the whole thing, but we can guess that while it looks a lot like HR 2419, there
are hundreds of tweaks up, down, and sideways, a few of them big deals.

SA 3500 has itself been amended a few hundred times and one of those amendments is SA 3723 -- our old friend 'PAWS,' but with some new problems.

With this many changes in play, it is most likely that the Senate WILL pass SA 3500, BUT PROBABLY ONLY AFTER MORE CHANGES. The Senate version of H.R. 2419 will then go to a House-Senate Conference Committee to work out the differences. The CC can be guaranteed to make yet more changes.

The conference version of H.R. 2419 will then go to both the House and Senate to be passed: Both houses must pass a bill in EXACTLY the same form. Once H.R. 2419 has passed both houses it goes to the president for signature -- that's usually a routine matter, although President Bush has been threatening a veto over one of the provisions of the
current bill.

So, while SA 3500 is technically not part of the farm bill yet, we believe it does contain SA 3723 at this time and that SA 3500 in some form WILL become H.R. 2419. Thus, we need to start worrying AND ACTING, now.

The first and best place to kill PAWS is to get SA 3723 removed on the Senate floor, where it is now. To do that, write to your own (U.S.) Senators asking that they remove SA 3723 from SA 3500.

Below are the enumerated reasons that the amendment SA 3723 needs to be removed from SA 3500, and SA 3723 of H.R. 2419.



1.) The Amendments would limit breeders to an arbitrary number of animals that may be sold in a given year without having a USDA approved facility. That number is 25 animals or six litters in any given year. One pup, or one kitten over those numbers, and the breeder/rescuer will be subject to build a USDA approved building. This will lead to numerous healthy animals being killed to avoid compliance with federal law. These arbitrary numbers could be amended far lower in the future with no public notice, debate, or input.



2.) Calls for third party inspectors from non-profit organizations in private homes. This is a giving over of police powers to a non-governmental organization.



3.) Reclassifies hobby breeders as dealers, and holds them to a set of care, and housing laws, and regulations that are not yet written. This is in direct violation of the Bill of Rights, Amendment IV.



4.) Proposes to regulate on a federal level that which is best left to each state, and locale.



5.) The existing Animal Welfare Act is more than sufficient to deal with the real problems of animal neglect and over use.



6.) The amendment is supported by animal rights groups whose stated goals are not the care, and nurture of pet animals, but their total abolition from the ownership, care and use of the people. Amendment SA 3500, and Amendment 3723 of H.R. 2419 takes the animal rights zealots several steps closer to their goal.



7.) The Amendments allow not-for profit groups to import animals from foreign nations into the United States unchecked. These animals are already being imported in vast numbers bringing in diseases that are not endemic to the USA, and for which we have no medical protocols. Shelters are being shut down all across the nation to stop the spread of these diseases brought in with these animals. An 11 year old California boy was bitten by an imported shelter dog, contracted a strain of rabies that resisted all treatment, and died. It is not only extremely irresponsible to allow for the unchecked importation of animals by non-profit groups it is a national health threat.



8.) These amendments are a direct violation of our rights of commerce.



9.) These amendments violate our right to travel unimpeded upon our legitimate business.



In conclusion there can be no workable compromise to amendment SA 3500, and Amendment SA 3723 of H.R. 2419. The existing Pet Animal Welfare Act is sufficient, if enforced, to control breeders and animal dealers as it was passed in 2003.


The text of the bill itself is at:

http://www.cfa.org/exhibitors/HR2419.pdf

You can see what the law (the Animal Welfare Act) would look like with the new PAWS merged in, here; the new stuff is about 2/3 down the page:

http://www.cfa.org/exhibitors/SA3723.pdf

To contact your Senators:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/

You can enter your zip code or just click on your state. Then click 'senators' and the name of each Senator to get the Washington D.C. office fax number. FAX is important because the time is short; email is not even close to equally effective.

OR just go to the CFA Alerts page and click on the list of Senators and phone numbers -- it's alphabetical by state abbreviation.

http://www.cfa.org/exhibitors/alerts.html


-- Be polite!

-- Your first sentence should say what you want: "I am writing to ask that you have SA 3723 removed from SA 3500, the Senate version of the 2007 farm bill."

-- Say something about yourself that relates to why this matters to you: "My wife and I breed one or two litters of whippets per year in our home in southern Virginia."

-- Explain what you think are the worst things about PAWS. This should be just two or three sentences. Whatever scares you most from the discussions on pet-law or various other resources.

-- Again say what you want: "Please work to have SA 3723 removed from the Senate version of the farm bill."

-- USE YOUR OWN WORDS. Form letters are ignored.

 

wow- Thats crazy!

 

Thanks for posting this. I got the email from ADBA early this morning. I hope people take the time to read this. And more importantly... take the time to write their senator's a couple of sentences regarding SA 3723.

Imo several of our rights are being infringed upon... so please take action.

 

Sent! People, People, People!! Right now, we are not living in the America of our forefathers!! We have less rights, more government, more taxes, more invasions into the life of everyday citizens than ever before (unless you count the interment of the Japanese during WWII). You dont have to let them know everything about you, but let them know that you dont want this or any other BSL affecting you. Even if you don't breed, hate breeders and want all non-championed animals spayed/neutered 5mins ago, you got your dog from somewhere, right? Keep them good ones coming, and tell your senator to vote NO!