[ SHOWGSD-L ] Fwd: Yates (ASDA) Re: Ohio

  • From: Stormy435@xxxxxxx
  • To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 11:46:23 EDT

Begin forwarded message:


From: "John Yates" <jtyates@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 9, 2008 8:07:32 AM PDT
Subject: Ohio Senate Gets Dog Bill

Ohio Senate Gets Dog Control Bill

 
Several Serious Problems Remain After House Vote

 
by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.americanhttp://www.amerihttp://
asda@xxxxxxxxxxxx
 
COLUMBUS, OH â?? House Bill 446, which amends Ohioâ??s animal control law, is 
now before the Senate State and Local Government and Veteranâ??s Affairs 
Committee 
following passage last week by a 74-22 vote in the House.
 
While the legislation has been improved, it still contains many serious flaws 
that unfairly burden Ohio dog owners and serve no logical purpose. The 
American Sporting Dog Alliance urges the Senate to either improve the 
legislation 
significantly, or reject it outright.
 
Several issues remain of concern to law-abiding and conscientious dog owners. 
The legislation:
 

     â?¢     Requires rabies vaccinations to be administered only by a licensed 
veterinarian. This makes no sense as there has not been a single case of 
canine rabies in the United States in more than 10 years. Last year, the U.S. 
Center for Disease Control and Prevention declared that that rabies has been 
eradicated from dogs and no longer is a public health concern. The current 
system 
clearly is working, and there is no justification to change it. Current law 
requires all dogs to be vaccinated against rabies by either a veterinarian or 
the 
dogâ??s owner. The legislation burdens dog owners with pointless expenses and 
demands on time for no good reason. It serves no public purpose.


 

     â?¢     Increases the cost of a kennel license from $10 to $50, but also 
requires each dog and puppy that is more than three months old to be 
individually registered at a minimum cost that would be increased from $2 to 
$10 per 
dog. We view this as essentially double-dipping into the pockets of law abiding 
kennel owners to pay for the cost of enforcing animal control laws against 
people who break the law. This is an unfair burden on people who do not cause 
animal control problems â?? a penalty for being innocent. This issue magnifies 
in 
importance because counties are empowered to increase individual license fees 
for dogs that are not spayed or neutered, and we have had reports that some 
counties charge more than $200 per dog per year. These kinds of multiplied fees 
easily could drive a good kennel out of business, causing pointless harm to 
peopleâ??s lives and the economy of Ohio.


 

     â?¢     Continues current law that provides a refuge for these extra 
registration fees for intact dogs used for hunting, shows or breeding. These 
exemptions are a good idea, but the list should be expanded to include other 
forms 
of competition (such as field trials, herding events and obedience events), as 
there is a valid reason for not sterilizing these dogs. The definition also 
should included retired dogs that are past the age of competition. We also 
think 
that a cap should be placed on countiesâ?? ability to impose higher 
registration fees for unsterilized dogs. Law abiding people should not be 
required to pay 
prohibitively high registration fees because of the actions of people who 
break the law. The cap should limit registration fees for intact dogs to no 
more 
than twice the fee for sterilized dogs. Current law also is maintained that 
requires people who â??professionallyâ?? breed dogs â??for hunting or for 
saleâ?? to 
obtain a kennel license. The word â??professionallyâ?? is not defined, and 
could 
be interpreted to mean anyone who sells even a single litter of puppies. We 
also object to singling out hunting dogs in this regard, when other kinds of 
dogs 
are not included.


 

     â?¢     Empowers county auditors to revoke a kennel license if inspectors 
believe the kennel owner has violated animal cruelty laws or fails to provide 
adequate care. An inspectionâ??s opinion is not the same as being found guilty 
in court. This would be like revoking a driverâ??s license based on getting a 
ticket by a police officer. Everyone who is accused of violating the law is 
entitled to his or her day in court. Revocation should not occur prior to a 
guilty 
verdict or plea in a court of law. This issue takes on special importance 
because Humane Societies have the power to appoint people to investigate animal 
cruelty cases. There have been many reports of biased and illegal enforcement 
actions by these officers.


 

     â?¢     Allows counties to contract with non-local Humane Societies to 
enforce animal cruelty laws. We believe that all enforcement officers are 
essentially police officers, and they must be subject to direct oversight by 
elected 
officials who are accountable to the voters. We see a great danger of 
non-local Humane Societies being influenced by an animal rights agenda to 
persecute 
dog and kennel owners, and using this power as a platform for unfair and biased 
law enforcement.


 

     â?¢     Requires every dog and puppy of more than three months of age to 
wear a collar and registration tag at all times, except inside of its ownerâ??s 
home. Thus, even playing with a puppy in its ownerâ??s yard could result in 
enforcement action if the puppy is not wearing a collar and tag. Dogs that live 
in 
kennels also would have to wear a collar and tag at all times. These 
provisions allow animal control officers to seize, impound, sell or destroy 
these dogs 
for noncompliance. This requirement is needlessly burdensome for dogs that are 
on land owned or rented by their owners. This issue has nothing to do with 
allowing dogs to roam at large, and accomplishes nothing. In some cases, it 
also 
is unworkable, as older puppies are notorious for chewing off their 
littermatesâ?? collars. Many show dogs also do not wear collars at home or in 
the kennel 
because it can damage their coats


 

     â?¢     Improves provisions in the initial legislation by making it easier 
for good Samaritans who find a lost dog to help it, but doesnâ??t do enough to 
protect the dogâ??s original owner. Dogs that are found must be reported to 
animal control within two days, and the finder has 14 days to find its owner, 
adopt the dog, foster it to a rescue group or turn it over to animal control. 
These are good provisions, but an additional provision should be added to 
require 
animal control to scan the dog for a microchip and examine it to see if it 
matches any description of a lost dog that has been reported. This provides 
additional protection for the dogâ??s original owner against mix-ups or theft.


 

     â?¢     Fails to do enough to reduce euthanasia rates at animal shelters. 
We believe the Legislature must take a pro-active role in moving Ohio toward â??
no-killâ?? as a rule for its animal shelters. This means having a realistic 
goal 
of not euthanizing any dog that is healthy and adoptable. â??No-killâ?? 
approaches have been proven to work in many places, and Ohio should be at the 
forefront of this movement. We believe that a substantial portion of the 
increased 
revenues that will result from this legislation should be earmarked to plan and 
implement no-kill programs.


 
 
It is possible to turn H.B. 446 into a good law if the Senate makes the above 
changes to the legislation.
 
The American Sporting Dog Alliance urges Ohio dog owners to contact every 
member of the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee 
to 
express concern about the problems in the current bill. Please ask the 
senators to make improvements to the legislation to reflect our concerns, and 
also 
to call for extensive public hearings before any action is taken. There are no 
hearings on this bill listed on the legislative calendar for the coming week.
 
This link will take you to a list of the members of this committee: 
http://www.senate.http://wwhttp://www.senhttp://wwwhttp. Click on each 
Senatorâ??s name, 
and a page will open giving complete contact details.
 
We also ask Ohioans to contact members of the House to thank them for voting 
against the legislation in its present form, and also to ask the legislators 
who voted in favor of it to reconsider their position. It also is appropriate 
to remind the legislators who voted in favor of it that this will be an 
important issue for Ohioâ??s million-plus dog owners in the November general 
election, 
and that their votes will not be forgotten.
 
Please thank the following 22 legislators who voted against H.B. 445: Reps. 
Book, Celeste, Core, Daniels, DeGeeter, Dodd, Fessler, Foley, Gardner, 
Gerberry, Gibbs, Goyal, Huffman, Lundy, McGregor, J. Newcomb, Okey, Raussen, 
Stewart 
J. Wachtmann, Wagner and Williams. Let them know you appreciate their concern 
for dog owners, and that you will remember them when they face re-election in 
November.
 
Please politely remind the following 74 legislators who voted for the 
legislation that their positions do not reflect the interests and concerns of 
Ohio 
dog owners: Reps. Adams, Aslanides, Bacon, Batchelder, Beatty, Blessing, Bolon, 
Boyd, Brady, Brinkman, Brown, Budish, Carmichael, Chandler, Coley, Collier, 
Combs, DeBose, DeWine, Dolan, Domenick, Driehaus, Dyer, Evans, Fende, Flowers, 
Garrison, Goodwin, Hagan, J. Harwood, Heard, Heydinger, Hite, Hottinger, 
Hughes, Jones, Koziura, Letson, Luckie,  Mallory, Mandel, McGregor, R. 
Mecklenborg,  
Miller, Oelslager, Otterman , J. Patton, Peterson, Redfern, Reinhard, Sayre, 
Schindel, Schlichter, Schneider, Sears,  Setzer, Skindell, Slesnick, 
Stebelton, Stewart D, Strahorn, Sykes, Szollosi, Uecker, Ujvagi, Webster, 
White, 
Widener, Williams B., Wolpert, Yates, Yuko, Zehringer and Husted. Please ask 
these 
legislators to do better if an amended version of H.B. 446 comes back from the 
Senate for concurrence. At a minimum, please make sure you contact your own 
legislator. Your voice will count now, and your vote will count in November.
 
This link will allow you to search for any legislatorâ??s contact information, 
either by name or location: 
http://www.house.http://wwhttp://www.househttp://www..
 
The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, hobby breeders and 
professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We are a 
grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure 
that the traditional relationships between dogs and humans maintains its 
rightful place in American society and life. Please visit us on the web at 
http://www.americanhttp://www.amerihttp://. Our email is asda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we can 
continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your membership, 
participation 
and support are truly essential to the success of our mission. We are funded 
solely by the donations of our members, and maintain strict independence.
 
PLEASE CROSS-POST AND FORWARD THIS REPORT TO YOUR FRIENDS

 

Have You Joined Yet?
The American Sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.americanhttp://www.amerihttp://




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