Excemptions has been taken out and more is changing each day
Below is what and how to be heard;
>From RPOA Texas Outreach and
Responsible Pet Owners Alliance
Crossposting is encouraged.
April 5, 2012
Action Alert for TX RPOA's "Educate My Legislators" Campaign!
E-mail your elected legislators the Austin Chronicle article below regarding
HB 1451. They can be found at
www.capitol.state.tx.us/ by typing in your
address in the Search Box. Post to their individual web page on the site or
email address because the education has begun!
We must counter the "Animal Rights" Propaganda being spread by HSUS and
Texas Humane Legislation Network.
Tell them the Austin Chronicle Article below proves the Animal Rights
Extremists will NEVER be satisfied with HB 1451 as all breeders are
Puppy/Kitten Mills to them!
This DOJ study sums it up in a nutshell!
Department of Justice Report URL:
http://www.cdfearchives.org/doj_report.htm"All extremist animal rights groups are believed to be associated with each
other by leadership, membership, or both. Many advocates of animal rights
oppose all ways in which animals are confined and utilized by humans,
whether it be for
food, clothing, servitude, or household pets."
..........................................................
Austin Chronicle News
Commission Debarks Puppy Mill Regs
Committee proposals for more humane measures fail
By Jordan Smith, Fri., April 6, 2012
[ALSO PLEASE POST "COMMENTS" RE THIS ARTICLE!]
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2012-04-06/commission-debarks-puppy-mill-regs/OR Tiny URL:
http://tinyurl.com/7kfu5xdCertain cage requirements were some of many regulations the TDLR loosened in
its March 27 meeting.
Photo by Jana Birchum
When Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, took to a lectern at the Capitol
last winter, she brought with her a stuffed dog. "We're into cats and dogs,"
she said, holding the toy in her arm as she announced the filing of a bill
aimed at putting out of business "puppy mill" operations - large-scale
breeding operations where animals are subjected to nonstop breeding cycles
while living in unsanitary and otherwise inhumane conditions. The point was
not to outlaw animal breeding, she made clear, but instead to ensure that
large-scale cat and dog breeders conduct their businesses in a legitimate
and humane way - in turn ensuring the sale of healthy and happy animals.
Now that the bill has passed and a set of regulations has been adopted, it
remains unclear whether cats and dogs bred in the state will actually be
living in more humane conditions.
The bill that passed required the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation to appoint a Licensed Breeder Advisory Committee to propose a set
of regulations for the department to adopt. The committee did its work, but
after a marathon meeting March 27, TDLR commissioners voted 5-1 (the seventh
was absent) to reject a number of key regulations worked out by the
committee, including a regulation related to the size of animal cages; a
requirement that flooring in those cages be, in part, made of solid
materials; and a regulation that would require that certain "surgical
procedures" - including declawing, ear and tail docking, and "debarking," or
cutting a dog's vocal cords - be performed only by a licensed vet. Why the
commission - save one member, LuAnn Roberts Morgan, a former member of the
Midland City Council - rejected the recommended care standards is unclear.
"I know what happened, but I don't know why," says Skip Trimble, a veteran
Dallas attorney who serves as legislative chair of the Texas Humane
Legislation Network. "For whatever reason, the animals have lost some
quality of life for some time to come."
TDLR Commission Chair Frank Denton told his fellow commissioners that he
thought the committee should go back and work more on these issues before
the agency adopts any strict rules. He said he wasn't concerned that animals
would be hurt by the current set of rules that are far less strict than
those hashed out by the committee; at least the breeding industry will now
have some rules to follow, he said. "If you look where we came from ...
we're light-years ahead of where we were before." For more on this story,
see "Better Than Nothing?," Newsdesk blog, March 28.
