Please share this alert with Legislative Liaisons, Club Members, and
Responsible Dog Owners in Vermont.
https://www.akc.org/legislative-alerts/vt-alert-committee-meeting-three-bills-impacting-dogs-wednesday-april-7-2021/
Monday, April 5, 2021
This Wednesday, April 7, starting at 9am, the Vermont House Committee on
Natural Resources, Fish, and Wildlife will meet to again to consider H. 167, H.
172 and H. 316, which impact hunting with dogs, and hear testimony from
additional invited guests. The committee hosted two meetings on these bills
last week.
ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP BOARD
H. 167 as introduced would create a board to oversee the policy decisions of
the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources regarding the management, protection,
and conservation of surface waters, wetlands, wildlife, forests, agency lands,
groundwater, air quality, and other natural resources managed or regulated by
the agency. The committee received more than 400 emails in support of H.167 as
introduced.
However, at last week’s meeting, the lobbyist for the Vermont Wildlife
Coalition, the primary supporters of the bill, detailed a scaled back proposal.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is concerned that the scaled-back proposal
would:
• Fail to include representatives from every Vermont county, including
rural counties, on this new board,
• Provide that board members would be political appointees required to
be dedicated but, not with any specific experience or knowledge, and
• Mandate training for appointees in ideas promoted by animal rights
activists.
CONTROL OVER HUNTING DOGS
H. 316 would require anyone hunting bear with dogs to have them under visual
and verbal “control” at all times. AKC is concerned that, from a practical
standpoint, this would prohibit anyone from hunting bear with dogs and may
provide the basis for effectively prohibiting other types of hunting activities
that require dogs to track game.
RELATING TO HUNTING AND TRAPPING
H. 172 would outright ban hunting for bear with dogs, and limit a property
owner/caretaker from setting traps to only when rabbits or fur-bearing animals
are found in the act of attacking, worrying, or wounding that person’s domestic
animal or destroying their property. Instead, animals deemed a nuisance would
be managed by a “nuisance wildlife control operator” who would set traps on
another’s property for compensation. This newly created state license would
require that applicants complete a course on non-lethal methods of animal
control and show proof of no misdemeanor or other conviction over the past
three years.
Points to consider:
• Responsible dog ownership requires control of one’s dogs at all times.
• Instead of outright bans on hunting with dogs, a dog owner ought to
be held responsible if their dog caused damage to a person or domestic animal.
• 36 other states hold dog owners strictly liable for dog bites.
The American Kennel Club encourages and strongly supports the interaction and
mutual enjoyment of owners and dogs in sporting activities such as hunting and
field trials; in working circumstances such as herding, tracking, and pulling;
and in competition events such as dog shows, obedience trials, agility trials,
and other performance events and tests. The AKC believes that dogs should be
properly cared for, humanely trained, and not pushed beyond reasonable limits
for which they were bred.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: AKC strongly encourages those who reside in Vermont to
contact the committee members with the above concerns and state your opposition
to H. 167, H. 172 and H. 316.
Rep. Amy Sheldon, Chair at asheldon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. James McCullough, Vice Chair at jmccullough@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Harvey Smith, Ranking Member at hsmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Seth Bongartz at sbongartz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Nelson Brownell at nbrownell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Katherine "Kari" Dolan, Clerk at kdolan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Paul Lefebvre at plefebvre@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Leland Morgan at lmorgan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Kristi Morris at kmorris2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Larry Satcowitz at lsatcowitz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rep. Thomas Terenzini at tterenzini@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For more information on these or other legislative issues in Vermont, contact
AKC’s Government Relations Department at 919-816-3720 or doglaw@xxxxxxx.
TAKE ACTION NOW: VT - Committee Meeting on Three Bills Impacting Dogs on
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Stormy Hope
LLARTC
NAIATrust, Trustee
NAIATrust-CA on Facebook!
GSDCA Legislative Liaison to AKC
California Responsible Pet
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