[ SHOWGSD-L ] Dog Owners took a big hit today in Virginia
- From: Peggy <pmick@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: showgsd <Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 18:25:07 -0500
Virginia dog owners lost their HB339 Dog Owner Database fight in Senate
AG today by a vote of 6-5. This is an extremely disheartening loss.
VVAM and Tom Evans, speaking for VFDCB, supported HB339.
HB339 is a major assault on citizen's privacy. It requires that a
Virginia pet-owner database be established, first at the county level,
then statewide. That database will be available to commercial and all
other interests under the Freedom of Information Act (FIOA). This system
will contain veterinary furnished information, collected under the
threat of fines. Every state veterinarian must supply county and city
treasurers with the names, addresses, detailed animal description of any
dog given a rabies vaccination. Treasurers are then required to send
licensing bills to owners and share information with other treasurers,
or anyone else seeking the data.
Animal rightists and others wanted this law very badly; it serves as the
stepping stone to further animal and animal owner regulation. Claims
that this bill is only intended to raise licensing rates simply
aren't genuine. In fact, this bill drives a wedge between veterinarians
and their clients. It will reduce both rabies vaccinations and dog tag
sales, as owners decline to have their detailed private data put on
public display. No one wants to be treated like a criminal, but that's
the effect of HB339. Our personal information will be accessible, to one
and all, just as if we were convicted sexual predators.
No insurance company doing business in Virginia will sell homeowner
coverage to anyone that it knows owns certain "blacklisted" dogs. Those
blacklisted dogs vary by company, but normally include, at a minimum,
pit bulls, Rottweilers, Dobermans and their mixes, and in some cases,
includes German Shepherds. HB339 requires, under the threat of fine,
veterinary reporting of every dog rabies vaccinated, including the
animal owner's name and address, the species of the animal, the sex, the
age, the color, the primary breed, the secondary breed, and whether or
not the animal is spayed or neutered. [emphasis added]
Insurance companies have a significant financial incentive to identify
owners of blacklisted dogs in their policy pools. Their use of
blacklisted, no-coverage breed lists is well-established, nationwide and
unlikely to change. Owners of such breeds are universally considered
higher risk policy holders, regardless of the individual dog's true
nature, and those homeowners' insurance may be terminated at policy
renewal, if not before.
HB339 creates the perfect publicly accessible database to identify
owners of pit bulls, Rotties, Dobes and other targeted breeds. While
Virginia's animal code forbids discrimination by breed, its insurance
regulations do not. Such database misuse by commercial interests and
activists goes well beyond trash mailings by dog food companies. It has
the potential to single out any breed, intact hunting dogs, or anyone
felt to have too many dogs.
The final version of the Bill, which has been Amended at every turn,
is not yet available to the public...but rest assured, the new version
will not be welcome.
I think it may be time to move out of the Old Dominion.
Peggy
If this bill weren't bad enough, its forced spay-neuter penalty
provisions for untagged impounded dogs that are intact could have
written by George Orwell. There are too many bills being hurried through
Virginia's short General Assembly sessions. This one is horrific, but it
passed today.
YEAS--Hawkins, Ticer, Hanger, Watkins, Puckett, Locke--6.
NAYS--Chichester, Ruff, Deeds, Obenshain, McDougle--5.
ABSTENTIONS--0.
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