AB 1634 to Change: American Kennel Club Vigorously Opposes!
The following is a press release from the American Kennel Club released on Thursday, August 21, 2008.
The current text of the bill (not including the amendments mentioned in this press release) can be read on the California Legislative Information web site.
--Dianne
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AKC URGENT ALERT: CA AB 1634 to Change: AKC Vigorously Opposes!
Late yesterday we received a proposed 12th amendment to the wording of CA AB 1634 which Lloyd Levine's staff presented to our lobbyist. Also, we understand that Mr. Levine attempted to amend his bill in the Senate, in spite of the fact that he had assured the AKC through our lobbyist that the bill was in its final form. As a result of this last minute attempt, we no longer have confidence in the definition of this bill or the credibility of its author.
The AKC is outraged and dismayed by Mr. Levine's last minute action to remove the incentives that were put in place to recognize responsible dog ownership. The new amendment will allow local government to avoid providing discounted licenses for owners who microchip, or owners who microchip and spay/neuter, their animals.
A primary reason AKC moved to a neutral position was because it reinforced and rewarded responsible behavior. We believe the process to advance this bill is no longer being conducted in a forthright and transparent manner. Given Mr. Levine's recent tactics and the fact that we no longer feel confident that an acceptable bill will be produced, a neutral position is no longer appropriate. Therefore, AKC must vigorously oppose this legislation.
Please immediately call and email your State Senator and ask them to oppose AB 1634.
For more information, contact AKC's Government Relations Department at (919) 816-3720, or e-mail doglaw@akc.org.
AB 1634, ab1634, politics, Levine, dogs, dog, AKC, American Kennel Club (all tags)
Levine's Own Poll Says: NO on AB 1634!
From Lloyd Levine's own web site!
Yes, it's true.... a poll on Lloyd Levine's own web site currently shows respondents OPPOSING AB 1634 by a margin of more than 2 to 1!
Now, of course this didn't happen by accident... a get-out-the-vote campaign by dog folks did play a part. But in order to keep the momentum up, we need YOU to participate too.
Here's how:
- Click here to go to the poll's web site. DO NOT VOTE YET; if you do, it will not count towards the total votes.
- On the right-hand side of the page, towards the bottom, there is a box titled "Please Feel Free to Tell a Friend". Enter your own address and (if possible) the addresses of two of your animal-loving friends, then click "Send".
- When that email arrives, you may vote in the poll either within that email or by following the survey link it it. Voila! Let Lloyd Levine hear our voices loud and clear!
Of course my strong suspicion is that this poll will be taken down just as soon as he realizes the results aren't what he wanted to hear. But let's enjoy it while it lasts! I would LOVE to see 95% or more of the votes in the poll opposing Levine's misbegotten and dangerous piece of political grandstanding.
-- Dianne
Keeping our voices heard
Remy Urges You to Act Now
We can not let our momentum die. While we are working on developing stratagies for dealing with the reincarnation of AB1634, we MUST continue to let politicians know our stance not only on this bill but on all animal related matters. They need to understand who we are, how dedicated we are , that we are now a one issue voter (the right to own and enjoy our animals without intrusive governmental interference and tracking) and that we are NOT going away.
We have to use the next several months effectively. Please commit to at least once a month making a personal visit to your assembly person, your senator or one of the senators on the local committee or the senate fiscal committee which are the next two stops for Levine's bill. This is a great time to be able to schedule an appointment in advance so you get to meet with your representative in person. Don't forget to make a second followup appointment with their chief of staff or legislative anaylst since we definitely need them on our side also to get the message across to their boss.
We can not just sit back and hope for victory. The proponents started advertising to the politicians thru the Capitol Weekly and other sources the day this bill was withdrawn to let them know that it will be back. They are still working and so must we.
Please blog a diary and let us know what you are doing. Try something new - post to a blog or a forum if you never have before, talk to your neighbors, vets, groomers, boarding kennel , pet food store as well as your doctors, lawyers and grocers. Get involved at a local level so you can keep an eye on what they are doing in your community. Get the statistics from your local shelter and make sure they match what they report to the state. Does their number of runs and cages match the number of animals they are claiming? Join the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions, your PTA, the League of Women Voters. Volunteer for local governmental committees and boards. Challenge a story on the news, in a paper or magazine that presents HSUS or PETA's message but not ours. Send one email or one letter. Buy some My Dog Votes stamps see http://www.zazzle.com/MyDogVotes/product/172360959454499156 and use them for that letter and all your mail. If you truly do not think you have the time to do one thing then please donate to Petpac and let them work for you. It all helps get our message out there. Each bit we all do makes a difference and new ideas can spark someone else to the effort
Start with one simple thing. Take our poll and send the link to five or ten friends to take. Call or write or visit one family member/friend and make sure they are aware of the issues and do not give ANY money to HSUS, PETA, Best Friends or any animal rights related organization. If they donate to animal welfare organizations tell them that you will help them find legitimate ones to donate to.
Post a comment and let me know the one action you've taken. Thanks.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
Those who expect to reap the Blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. ~Thomas Paine
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. -Thomas Jefferson
Petpac, ab1634, dog, cat, bird, horse, animal ownership, social networks, american government, grass roots organizing, politics, constitutional rights, freedom, lloyd levine, judie mancuso, spay, neuter, sterilization, MSN, pet extinction act, action alert, right to quiet enjoyment of property (all tags)
Take the Poll and Tell us about your pets!
Remy and Nemo
Please take the poll and give us some idea of the pets you share your home with. Thanks. Beth
pets, dog, cat, bird, horse, poll, politics, animal ownership, freedon, constitutional rights (all tags)
Update re CVMA
CVMA blinked! /YY/Y\ ( me jumping up and down)Many of you may have heard this news already, but I did not want to post it until it was up on CVMA's site. CVMA has now officially withdrawn it's support and endorsement of this bill.
They have asked to be taken off as a sponsor of the bill. This is HUGE!
As of Friday the Senators were not aware of this so it really is worth a very short fax from each and every one of us to let them know . Plus it just reminds them what has to happen to this bill - file 13, the circular file, the cosmic vortex, the dust bin - but not the recycling bin :) .
I'm very very proud of you. Without you this could not have happened because you took one small message to our veterinarians and spread it far and wide.
HOWEVER, it also could not have been done without those veterinarians who listened to their clients, read the bill and realized how wrong it was and had the courage, fortitude and strength to stand up to their own organization and say this is not right. This final result is ALL their doing and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. If you know veterinarians that spoke out for us, please thank them for all of us. I hope that NAIA will keep up the list of veterinarians who opposed AB1634 so that if we are in a position of needing to find a new vet we can check there.
We obviously have no way of finding and thanking all the vets who wrote and called the CVMA since not all shared their communications with us. We do however have a group that we can thank. They were willing to go public with their opposition to CVMA's stance.
Some of them are (and I include all even if I have accidently missed your name):
Dr. John Hamil, Dr. Karen Seibold, Dr. Charles Hjerpe, Dr. Patricia Ungar, Dr. Brenda Phillips, Dr. Jean Spengel, Dr. Sharon Vanderlip, Dr. Arthur Spencer, Dr. Cyndi Mitchell and all the doctors at Kensington Veterinary Hospital and all the veterinarians that joined them in signing their letter ( available at the NAIA site to see ). Thanks also to the San Diego and Monterey CVMA chapters that voted to ask their organization to change its mind.
If you know any of these people, please say thank you from me. I am blogging this message on the PetPac.net site so that we have a public way to say thank you. I hope that some of you will add your comments.
So to all the veterinarians listed above. Our hats are off to you. I think it is quite a symbol that CVMA's decision came on the 4th of July - a day we not only honor our independence but the patriots who had the courage to stand up and fight for what they knew was right.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Beth Shea
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We each must do what we can and speak from the heart with passion.
We CAN make a difference.
We can be a strong voice for ourselves and our dogs.
We need hearts and courage as strong as those of our dogs.
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The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
Those who expect to reap the Blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. ~Thomas Paine
CVMA, AB1634, Levine, Veterinarians, Withdraws, Ungar, Hamil, Seibold, Hjerpe, Spengal, Vanderlip, pets, dogs, cats, social networks, politics (all tags)
Happy 4th of July! Celebrate your Freedom with a new kind of Fireworks!
Happy Fourth of July everyone! I hope you are enjoying this day with family and friends.
Today is a good day to be thankful that we are citizens of a great nation that gives us the right to determine our own destiny and to pursue liberty and happiness.
From the Declaration of Independence whose signing we celebrate today
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
With great privilege also comes great responsibility, however, as has been recognized from the very start of our nation long before we were a republic. Cotton Mather, the most influential Puritan in Massachusetts, published Bonifacius: Essays to Do Good in 1710 in which he said "You must come forth to any Publick Service, whereof you may be capable, when you are call'd unto it."
We know one of the people that these words had a profound effect on - Ben Franklin who was a key player in the creation of our Republic. " Once he had embraced independence, he had passionately held to a clear vision of the kind of country he wanted it to be: a democratic republic whose political power flowed from its citizens. To build such a society he had many years before devised a plan with three simple, practical steps: the creation of "virtuous" citizens, the formation of small groups with a common purpose and commitment to the collective good, and the establishment of networks that grew from these groups. "I have always thought," he once wrote, "that one Man of tolerable Abilities may work great Changes, and accomplish great Affairs among Mankind, if he first forms a good Plan and . . . makes the Execution of that same Plan his sole study and Business." 1
We are following Mr. Franklin's plan right now. We have established a small group of common purpose - PetPac and now we need to establish and grow the network that is needed to protect our rights. I encourage you to read the last line of the paragraph above again for that is what is needed right now. We each must do what we can and speak and act from the heart with passion. We CAN make a difference. We can be a strong voice for ourselves and our animals. It is the power of one that brings any change to the world because an idea or movement must start with one person. However it is the communication and support of that one person's idea that effects the change.
PetPac is the idea. An organization formed to protect the rights of pets and owners through public awareness education, grassroots organizing, and advocacy at the local, state and national level. We must now turn this message into a wildfire that spreads across this great nation.
What better way on this day so important to our nation which is celebrated with fireworks - lights in the sky, representative of the ideas that gave birth to this nation and the armed struggle that was required to create it - to honor that tradition by continuing it and creating a new one.
I suggest we create a new kind of fireworks. Let's stand up and be counted so that each of us is a bright shining star in this new fight for our lives and liberty.
Make sure you have signed the petition.
Spread the message about PetPac.
Most importantly contribute - your time, your effort and your money.
Political change can not made without money. This was true during the Revolutionary War when even lotteries were held to support the Continental Congress. In addition patriots devoted to the cause of liberty put up their own money. From an article about the funding of the War for Independence " "After all, they could voluntarily "lend" their future production to the state during the course of the war if they in fact valued winning the war enough..." Many patriots in fact did that. Hundreds of great men spent their entire fortunes and died broke funding the overthrow of the British. " 2
I am not asking anyone to die broke. I am asking you to become committed, to become passionate about one thing in your life - securing our rights to a life that includes animals. Do you value the winning of this war enough?
Join me in this fight. Please see http://petpac.net/action/contribute?page_id=MTU
Many people asked me for a copy of my speech before the Assembly's Appropriations Committee. I have posted that speech on the url above.
Finally two more quotes which I think speak both to this day and to our new fight.
"On this day, the flag seems especially vibrant. It invites us to look deeply into ourselves and consider the potential of who we are and who we might become in the land of the free, the home of the brave. " 3
"When personal choice, voluntary exchange, and the protection of private property are not secure, it is difficult to imagine how political freedom or civil liberties can meaningfully be exercised. 4
1 http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2005/Jun/07-53741.html
2 http://blog.mises.org/archives/005738.asp
3 http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2005/Jun/07-976478.html
4 http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/1205/ijde/vasquez.htm
Freedom, AB1634, pets, dogs, social networks, politics, American Government, American history, Declaration of Independence, Ben Franklin (all tags)