FW: [RDOG-IA] Va HB538 reported 7-1. We lose

CROSSPOSTED FROM DOG LEGISLATION

Dear Virginia Dog Owners,

The Humane Society of the United State (HSUS) is about to gain in Virginia what it couldn't in years of Washington, DC lobbying, a hobby dog breeder licensing and inspection regulation. HB538 was reported this morning by a 7-1 vote from House Appropriations Economic Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee of Cox (Chairman), Morgan, Hogan, Abbitt, O'Bannon, Phillips, Dance, Shannon. Only Delegate Abbitt voted against HB538.

The subcommittee incredibly didn't review HB538's fiscal impacts, its raison d'être (reason for being). Instead it permitted a replay of the emotional puppy mill stories from the Agriculture Committee hearings and totally ignored the bill's significant unfunded new regulatory requirements on Virginia counties and cities. See the attached analysis. Also ignored were expressions of concern and requests not to report filed this week by at least one city and multiple counties.

A few cosmetic, non-substantive changes were made in today's subcommittee. The commercial dog breeder definition was raised from 20 females to 30, and the adult dog 50 limit now specifies one year, rather than four months. The amended bill still deserved to die. HB538 duplicates the federal licensing system that registers and inspects most dog breeders with four (4) or more females about whom a legitimate complaint has been received or those businesses that voluntarily self-register. USDA-APHIS has 5700+ Class A breeders that it monitors and inspects at least once per year, including 14 in Virginia. The feds did 10,000 inspections last year, checking compliance with 60 pages of detailed dog care standards.

Junior Horton in Carroll County, the HSUS puppy mill cause célèbre, was well known to authorities and the ACO there for years. He had a business license, a 500 dog kennel permit, five employees, bought dog food by the ton and advertised puppies in newspapers and on the Internet. He should have been federally licensed and inspection by law, but wasn't. Of that there's no dispute. That situation was a local political problem, not a federal enforcement shortfall. At any time, someone could have brought him to the USDA's attention. Three months after the HSUS November 1st "raid," there still hasn't been a formal complaint lodged, nor has the local ACO returned to that facility, which is still selling puppies. The fourteen USDA licensed and inspected VA dog breeders are listed on the USDA-APHIS website. This isn't some mysterious, unknown or unaccountable animal welfare service, just one the State Veterinarian's Office and ACOs need to learn about, rather than being asked to supplant, or duplicate the federal program at great cost to local taxpayers and risk to responsible dog owners.

They'll be time for more thorough and studied postmortems later, but my personal gripes just now involve the only identified dog owner group to support HB538, the Virginia Foxhound Club, and the Virginia Association of Counties http://www.vaco.org/. VACO committed to oppose HB538 this week, then reneged today. The Middleburg based Virginia Foxhound Club and its Masters of Foxhounds Association affiliated members should be dragged behind their horses for advancing HSUS's anti-dog owner agenda.

Thank you for your individual efforts over these last trying weeks. We were up against HSUS's five paid Richmond professional lobbyists, its DC personnel and numerous very well coordinated local semi-pro activists.

Forward and cross post freely.

Sincerely,
Bob Kane, President
Virginia Hunting Dog Owners' Association
Chairman Emeritus, Sportsmen and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance
http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com http://saova.org.