August 2010
Lincoln Would Be Proud
Paws up!
To Illinois for enacting one of the strongest laws in the country regarding the sale of cats and dogs.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law HB 5772, which requires pet stores, dog breeders and dealers, cattery operators, and rescues to provide information to purchasers or adopters about a pet's history.
According to news sources, “The bill is designed to protect consumers or adopters from unknowingly buying or adopting cats and dogs from puppy mills, or from acquiring animals with health issues that may not otherwise be disclosed.”
Pet shops, breeders, and rescues must disclose the following information, and the buyer must receive a copy of the information, prior to the sale of the animal: “retail price, including adoption fees or other charges; breed, age, date of birth, sex and color of the dog or cat; details of vaccinations and health history; name, address and identification number of the breeder; and any known diseases or other health conditions (applies to animal shelters and controls only).”
Take Action: Illinois residents, write your governor and thank him for signing HB 5772 into law. Others, if your state or local jurisdiction does not have similar laws regarding the sale of cats and dogs, please contact your legislators and urge them to enact a similar law. Our companion animals deserve no less.
The Honorable Pat Quinn
Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
Tele.: 217-782-0244
Source:
www.animallawcoalition.com/companion-animal-breeding/article/1226
www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/illinois-passes-hb-5772-requiring-history-of-dogs-and-cats-to-be-disclosed
http://wbbm.cbslocal.com/2010/08/22/new-law-to-require-health-history-of-dogs-cats-before-they-are-sold/
#
Egg-static
Paws Up!
To the national media for widely reporting on the recent egg recall and its relationship to factory farming.
Many mainstream media outlets are reporting on the connection between overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in factory farms and the recent salmonella outbreak that has poisoned approximately 2,000 people across the nation and caused the recall of more than half-a-billion eggs to date.
According to a news source, “The laying hens in question were raised (held prisoner is a more apt term) in Iowa, in a massive concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), better known as a factory farm. In the typical egg-laying CAFO, hens are crammed into battery cages and given room to move in an area that’s roughly equivalent to a piece of typing paper.
“Cages are stacked one on top of the other, sometimes 10 or more high, inside large confinements that never see the light of day. Fresh air is pumped into one end, and air fouled with bacteria, viruses, mold, dust, antibiotics, litter and dander spits out the other.”
Confined (or concentrated) animal feeding operations often lead to air and water pollution; overuse of antibiotics, growth hormones, and steroids; and the introduction into the human food chain of dangerous and potentially lethal parasites, bacteria, and viruses.
Take Action: First, know where your food comes from. If you must have eggs in your diet, make sure you know their source. Free-range may mean no more than a crowded football field sized shed with chickens running around in their own excrement. Find a local farm that raises hens humanely. Second, instead of eating eggs, try egg substitutes for all your egg dishes, including tasty muffins and delicious eggless egg salad.
Source:
www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/egg-recall_b_687882.html
www.peoplesworld.org/factory-farms-exposed-in-recall-of-half-billion-eggs/
http://business.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978464372
#
Stop the Races
Paws Up!
To Tourism Minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla for calling for the end to palio horse racing in many areas of Italy.
According to a news source, Tourism Minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla wants these medieval summer horse races outlawed on the grounds they are cruel to animals.
“If the Spanish can ban their bullfights, then we can end some of the palii,” she said. “The Palio of Siena is the most famous competition, but there are others that use horses, donkeys or geese that are often cruel to the animals and in this day and age make no sense. The violence against animals damages Italy’s image.”
Take Action: Take a moment to write Minister Brambilla’s and thank her for urging the palio horse races be outlawed. Send a second letter to the Ambassador from Italy urging his country support the minister’s request.
Minister Michela Vittoria Brambilla
c/o Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Tele.: 202-612-4400
The Honorable Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata
Ambassador
Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Tele.: 202-612-4400
Source:
#
Grey Wolves Back on Endangered List
Paws Up!
To a Federal judge who ruled Rocky Mountain grey wolves must be put back on the list of protected endangered species.
US District Judge Donald Molloy ordered Rocky Mountain grey wolves be placed back on the list of protected endangered species.
Grey wolves had been listed as endangered species in 1974. In the 1990s, the government reintroduced grey wolves into the northern Rocky Mountains. Encouraged by their recovery, the government allowed wolf hunts in two states (Montana and Idaho) but protected them in a third (Wyoming). Judge Molloy ruled that the law did not permit protecting part of a species while allowing hunting of the rest.
Take Action: Along with writing a note to Judge Molloy thanking him for his ruling, write a letter to Secretary Ken Salazar, Department of the Interior, letting him know you agree with Judge Molloy’s ruling.
The Honorable Donald W. Molloy
Judge
US District Court, District of Montana
PO Box 8537
Missoula, MT 59807
The Honorable Ken Salazar
Secretary
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
Source:
#
Breed-Specific Legislation Doesn’t Apply
Paws Up!
To the US Department of Justice for stating that breed-specific legislation doesn’t apply to service dogs.
According to a news source, “[following recent] revision of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations, the U.S. Department of Justice has rejected some…opinions that certain breeds of dogs should be excluded as service animals. The Department also reaffirms their position that local breed-specific laws do not apply to service dogs.”
Take Action: Write a letter to the Attorney General thanking his agency for letting state and local governments know breed-specific legislation does not apply to service dogs. If your state or local government has enacted or is contemplating enacting breed-specific legislation, contact your legislators and voice your opinion on the subject of breed bans.
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Tele.: 202-514-2000
Source:
#
|
