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Title: What's going on in Austin Post by: Txmason on February 03, 2013, 11:06:44 am TDHA is there, where are you??
From RPOA Texas Outreach and Responsible Pet Owners Alliance Crossposting is encouraged. February 3, 2013 On January 31, 2013, US District Court Judge James Nowlin denied Responsible Pet Owner Alliance's request for a Preliminary Injunction to block enforcement of the 2011 Dog and Cat Breeder Act and the rules promulgated therefrom while this case moves forward to its resolution. Our request for a Temporary Injunction was previously denied. This was not unexpected as we'd forewarned that the injunction would be very difficult to obtain. But most unexpected were statements made by Judge Nowlin himself. We lost before we ever entered the courtroom! We realized we were in shark infested waters when the Security Guard asked at the door: "Are you here for the HSUS lawsuit?" HSUS and Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN) filed an Amicus Brief supporting the state of Texas, and Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR), but we weren't aware that this was "their" lawsuit. Hey, HSUS did write the Texas bill! Forgot about that! Judge Nowlin previously served in our state legislature and informed the court that he was a personal close friend of Rep. Senfronia Thompson, sponsor of HB 1451, the misnamed "Puppy Mill" Bill, and they had lunch together last week. Surely this was just a coincidence! The judge assured everyone this would not affect his decision. HSUS, their state affiliate Texas Humane Legislation Network, the state and TDLR had an entourage of six attorneys at the table. RPOA had our attorney Steve Thornton and members James Smith, Mary Visser, Teresa Arnett, Tina Patterson and George Armstrong at the hearing to our knowledge. There may have been others. "It ain't over 'til it's over," so this is only the beginning, the first step so to speak. RPOA will persevere with the lawsuit as long as we obtain sufficient funding to pay our attorney. In the meantime, our focus is to "repeal and replace HB 1451" with a new state law that correctly defines a "High Volume Commercial Breeder" and transfers administration to the Texas Department of Agriculture, eliminates the Breeder Advisory Committee, Breeder Bounty, Snitch Fund, and many other onerous sections. We'll have a Legislature Action Alert in a few days. This flyer below explains what is wrong with HB 1451 and the changes RPOA seeks with our own bill. http://www.rpoatexasoutreach.org/Brochurs_Flyers/TexasBreederBill_ChangesJustification.pdf Save to your computer and forward to legislators, media, friends, relatives and all. Do not let HSUS define us in Texas. We'll define ourselves, thank you, as we're the "reasonable" voice for Texas animals and their owners. Let's be proactive, not always reactive, and protect our animals from the extremists who claim to "advocate for animals." Simply not so! FYI: There are a number of URLs below of articles from various news sources regarding our lawsuit. We want to give a special Shout Out to Texas Tribune reporter MAURICE CHAMMAH who demonstrated "real" journalism with his article below. If you wish to subscribe, Texas Tribune has an excellent email list reporting on "all things Texas Legislature." This URL was sent out to all their subscribers and hopefully legislators themselves. "Despite Ruling, Group to Keep Fighting 'Puppy Mill' Law" http://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/01/after-court-ruling-continued-battle-over-cat-and-d/ OR http://tinyurl.com/byyt6l6 Check for broken links, please! Dallas Morning News http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/01/court-allows-implementation-of-puppy-mill-law.html/ OR http://tinyurl.com/aczrdrx Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Judge-denies-challenge-to-Texas-puppy-mill-law-4245524.php Texas Humane Legislation Network: http://www.thln.org/index.cfm?pageID=97FD650D-3048-C277-1145AD8444C1D3D4 Rebecca Poling, DFW Animal Rescue, a Dallas area "animal rights" extremist presenting the HSUS perspective. (Consider the source!): http://www.dfwanimalrescue.com/2013/01/federal-court-refuses-to-block-new-texas-puppy-mill-law/ God Bless Our Efforts and hug your pets today and everyday! |