[ SHOWGSD-L ] Fwd: [TX_RPOA_E-News] RPOA in the news ... "Animal Rights" Bills to be filed ...

  • From: Bokenkampgsd1@xxxxxxx
  • To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 19:56:18 EST

 
  
____________________________________
 From: rpoa@xxxxxxxxx
Reply-to: TX_RPOA_E-News-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To:  TX_RPOA_E-NEWS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 1/1/2011 5:46:19 P.M. Central Standard  Time
Subj: [TX_RPOA_E-News] RPOA in the news ... "Animal Rights" Bills to  be 
filed in Texas



 
 
TX-RPOA E-News
>From RPOA Texas Outreach and
Responsible Pet  Owners Alliance
"Animal welfare, not animal 'rights'
and, yes, there is  a difference."
Permission granted to crosspost.
January 1,  2011

We would like to wish you a Happy New Year but the 82nd Session of  the 
Texas 
Legislature which convenes January 11th will once again be a  minefield of 
many "animal rights" bills being filed. Let's hope we can  celebrate on 
June 
1st when the legislature adjourns as we did last  session!

The Animal Abusers Registry mentioned below clearly  demonstrates the 
radical 
agenda of Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), an  "animal rights" national 
organization of attorneys dedicated to obtaining  legal "personhood" for 
animals in the courts equal to humans. The  ramifications would be 
startling. Pet ownership is "slavery" they  say.
ALDF is very active in Texas through the Texas State Bar's Animal  Section, 
Texas Humane Legislation Network and Robert (Skip) Trimble,  THLN's 
legislative chair and former ALDF chairman.

This article  below appeared in both the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio 
Express-News  but the SA newspaper has some extra paragraphs at the end 
with 
quotes by  "Skip" Trimble (THLN) and Mary Beth Duerler (RPOA). Please 
"educate" these  newspapers:
Letters to the Editor (SA Express-News): _letters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
(mailto:letters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) 
Letters  to Houston Chronicle: _viewpoints@xxxxxxxxxx 
(mailto:viewpoints@xxxxxxxxx) 
You must give  name, address & phone number for confirmation. Keep it brief 
but do  let the newspapers know they are being duped by THLN. This is a 
national  anti-pet legislation agenda by HSUS and other animal rights  
organizations.
...........................................................
_http://tinyurl.com/33xlebr_ (http://tinyurl.com/33xlebr) 

Plan  would treat animal abusers like sex offenders
Rockets owner Alexander backs  registry for felons
By PEGGY FIKAC
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
and
SAN  ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Jan. 1, 2011, 7:53AM

_http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/7361450.html_ 
(http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/7361450.html) 

AUSTIN  - People convicted of felony animal cruelty offenses would have to
register  just like sex offenders do under a proposal being pushed by 
Houston
Rockets  owner Les Alexander.

Alexander is one of the advocates hoping lawmakers  take time to focus on
animal welfare in the upcoming legislative  session.

"A predator is a predator, if it's against a human or it's  against an
animal," said Alexander, who in 2007 put muscle behind  toughening Texas'
animal-cruelty law.

The registry proposal hasn't  yet been filed. Four Houston lawmakers plan to
carry it forward: Democratic  Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman 
John
Whitmire, Republican Sen.  Joan Huffman, Democratic Rep. Senfronia Thompson
and Republican Rep.  Beverly Woolley.

Among other pet-related proposals is a revival of the  so-called puppy mill
bill, which would create a state regulatory program to  license and set
minimum standards for commercial breeders. The measure's  still being
drafted.

Thompson plans to carry it as she did in 2009,  when it died after being
opposed by veterinarians and a group including  hobby breeders. This time,
the Texas Veterinary Medical Association has  helped work on a new version 
of
the measure, which is a priority of the  Texas Humane Legislation Network.

"I want to make sure the puppies that  are being sold are healthy animals,
that they are being treated in a humane  way," Thompson said.

A separate bill that has already been filed would  allow pets to be added to
protective orders in family violence  cases.

Tally is not complete
Some of the measures have been tried  before, but the registry effort is 
new.
Lobbyist Bill Miller, pushing the  idea for Alexander, said no other state
has passed it. A registry has been  approved in New York State's Suffolk
County.

The idea would work  like the Texas registry that makes information public
about sex offenders,  though it might be tiny in comparison.

Texas has 62,971 registered sex  offenders. Since the animal cruelty law was
toughened in 2007, just 24  people have been sent to the Texas Department of
Criminal justice for  cruelty to non-livestock animals.

But that tally is incomplete. It  doesn't include those simultaneously
serving time for an animal-cruelty  felony and another crime with a longer
sentence. It also doesn't include  those who receive deferred adjudication,
who also would be required to  register. Those figures couldn't be obtained
Thursday.

"A list has  to start somewhere, with someone," Miller said. "It will be a
deterrent and  a valuable tool" for checking on potential pet owners.

Backers cited a  connection between animal abuse and violence toward people.

"As a  former prosecutor and judge, I am aware that those with a history of
animal  abuse may potentially commit future violent acts," Huffman said in  
a
statement.

In a bow to the tough fiscal times, it's envisioned as  being funded by
donations and gifts. Alexander said he'll "be chipping in  big."

Woolley in a statement called the registry "another step toward  stopping
some child predators. Studies show that child predators begin as  animal
abusers. . To be the first state to achieve this, without using  general
revenue, relying solely on private donations, makes this bill a  good way to
usher good feelings into the Legislature."

'High-tech  Scarlet Letter'
Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project, however,  called it "one 
of
the more inane legislative ideas I've heard."

"The  idea of criminal justice is you commit the crime, you pay the penalty.
Why  do you have this ongoing punishment with the registry? It becomes like 
 a
high-tech Scarlet Letter," Harrington said.

The so-called puppy  mill measure would set up state licensing and 
regulation
for commercial  breeders. The U.S. Department of Agriculture currently
oversees breeders  who sell wholesale, but there's no regulation of those 
who
sell  retail.

Skip Trimble of the Texas Human Legislation Network said the  measure
wouldn't affect hobby breeders and would apply only to those who  have 11 or
more breeding females and sell their offspring.

Mary Beth  Duerler of the Responsible Pet Owners Alliance voiced concern 
over
what she  called the "agenda" of those who have pushed the measure.

"These  extremists do not want you to use animals for any reason, whether 
you
eat  'em, wear 'em or pet 'em," she said.

Legislation
. Legislation  allowing pets to be added to protective orders has been filed
as Senate  Bill 279 and House Bill 323.

. Other proposals, such as one to create a  registry of people convicted of
felony animal cruelty, will be assigned  numbers when they're filed in the
Legislature.
_pfikac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:pfikac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) 

---------------------------------------
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RPOA Texas Outreach (501 C4  Nonprofit)
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Responsible Pet Owners Alliance  (501 C3 Nonprofit)
www.responsiblepetowners.org
900 NE Loop 410  #311-D
San Antonio, TX 78209
$15 Annual Dues (Jan-Dec)



 
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  • » [ SHOWGSD-L ] Fwd: [TX_RPOA_E-News] RPOA in the news ... "Animal Rights" Bills to be filed ... - Bokenkampgsd1