[ SHOWGSD-L ] Report from Bill Hemby, PetPAC re AB 1634
- From: "Ginger Cleary" <cleary1414@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Showgsd-L@Freelists. Org" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2007 14:06:49 -0400
Ginger Cleary,Rome, GA ww.rihadin.com <http://www.rihadin.com>
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo
the fatigue of supporting it. ~Thomas Paine
Member GSDCA
Member Sawnee Mtn Kennel Club
GA Director Responsible Dog Owners of the Eastern States.
-----Original Message-----
The following is a forwarded report from Bill Hemby of PetPAC regarding
the last three days of lobbying on AB 16334 (Levine).
__________________________________________________________________________
______________
As you can imagine, the last few days have been nothing but hectic.
I have been camped down at the Capitol since Monday morning following the
antics of AB 1634. These
have been 16 hour days, visiting legislators offices, handing out reams of
letters and press releases. After speaking with a friend on the Assembly
floor last week, Cyndi and I put out an urgent request over
the weekend for breed rescue groups to get in letters, as many legislators
still considered AB 1634 as a fight between breeders and rescue groups.
Laura Sanborn and Jan Nielsen worked to get new police K9 letters. Bright
and early Mondaymorning armed with several breed rescue organization
letters, new
letters from COPS, and police k9 groups,>(thats 80 copies of each) I went
off to the Capitol and with the
help of some of the latinos opposed to AB 1634 demonstrating in front of the
bldg, made the rounds of all 80
Assembly member's offices. After that, Kelley Moran and I made the rounds
again with a PetPAC press
release and a COPS press release, another 80 offices. Then with 80 copies of
CVMA past president, Dr. John Hamil's 5 page letter I did it again.
In between I visited both Charles Calderon and Anna Caballero (both of whom
stayed with us in their opposition). That evening I monitored the floor
vote.
Back down early Tuesday morning with the same agenda. All day Tuesday and
into Tues night glued next to the Assembly floor with 50 or 60 other
lobbyists watching the floor vote.
Then again, Wednesday, same schedule. This time I knew the bill would be
heard. And it was, about 10 a.m.
Mr. Levine performed his usual smoke and mirrors routine, intimating all was
well and he had satisfied
the concerns of law enforcement, guide dogs, service dogs and painting
breeders as the spawn of the devil.
This time his figures had gone up to $300 million.
I am sure many of you heard his remarks. But it was the same old "Trust Me"
statement. Mr. Nava did his favorite dog killing story, as if he himself has
ever witnessed such a tragedy.
I was very satisfied that several Republicans who spoke actually used lines
from the PetPAC press
release. Mr. Gaines [Roseville] called AB 1634 " a gross over reach" "
government mandate" Right out of our press release. Mr. Adams: [Claremont]
"over reach" "criminalizes dog owners", again out of the PetPAC press
release. Mr.>Emmerson: [Rancho Cucamonga] "PetPAC says this is a $1 billion
mandate".
After the rhetoric, the vote came out 37 Ayes, 34 Noes, 9 Not Voting.
Not Voting were: Arambula, D; Galgiani, D; Houston, R; Karnette, D;
Richardson, D; Salas, D; Soto- D absent, Swanson, D; Walters, R.
We did lose Todd Spitzer R- Orange County as Mr. Levine made a promise to
him the bill would become a Fixit-Ticket rather than an irreversible fine.
Levine also promised to look at the 4-month spay/neuter
provision as well as allowing one litter a year from mixed breeds. He would
have given away the store at
that point.
The bill went "on call". For the rest of the day Kelley Moran and I along
with lobbyists Mark Hennelly, California Outdoor Heritage Alliance, Kathy
Lynch and her husband from the Rifle and Pistol
Association, Ed Worley, the NRA, Jeff Leacox, AKC, Noelle Cremers California
Farm Bureau made the rounds of everyone we could get in to see, and several
we could "call out" of the floor. We continuously
received reassurances from those who had abstained they would hang tough.
Late in the afternoon we heard
Galgiani was wavering, so off we went again.
Judie Mancuso and her entourage were roaming the halls too. We kept running
into them. She didn't look
happy. Attorney Beth Shea and her German Shepherd assistance dogs were also
visible visiting legislators. The session slowly ground down to the evening
hours until about 10:30 pm, the "Call" was lifted and AB
1634 picked up 5 of the 6 Democrats who had abstained, but Todd Spitzer
changed his vote to "No".
The bill squeaked out with just the 41 votes needed. I believe Mr.Levine
went to Speaker Nunez and asked
a favor. I think it had to be the Speaker who brought the other democrats on
board. We were all disappointed, but not disillusioned.
So now it's on to the Senate.
I believe we have a very good chance to kill this bill in the Senate, if we
work together. The lobby group
get it. If any of you thought this was a walk in the park, this is your wake
up call. We need to stay on
message. As I mentioned, the PetPAC message did resonate with legislators.
OK for those of you who don't like commercials, this is the commercial.
PetPAC has put together a team with over 100 years of combined political
experience. PetPAC.net is second to none. We have
already signed up thousands of supporters. We are now reaching out to every
pet owner in California
and hope by year's end to have over one million signed on.
I am being scheduled for talk radio shows, I plan to continue to visit dog
shows and get out our message.
Go to the PetPAC.net and read our releases. Get behind us. We need a united
front of both dog and cat
owners and breeders. We need each dog and cat club to sign on to support
PetPAC. We need working dog groups, training dog groups to sign on their
support. We need vets opposed to AB 1634 to sign on as
supporting the cause. Contact everyone you know, every friend, relative and
aquaintances and ask them to sign on to PetPAC.net Every dog breeder must
contact each and every puppy buyer and ask them to sign on the the
PetPAC.net as a supporter. Every cat breeder must go out to those that have
bought kittens and ask them to sign on to PetPAC.net. I have asked CFA to
write articles. So where are cat breeders and owners? If you want to get
your word out to the public, this is your forum.
Where are you? Where are you? The blog will be up soon, so we can have a
diversity of opinions discussed. If you can write an interesting article,
please do. The website needs both informative and human interest articles to
hold our pet owners interest. Human interest photos.
Everyone, including the most veteran lobbyists at the Capitol, have remarked
they have not seen this kind of
excitement and involvement by the public on an issue for many years.
We can and will change the public perception on this issue.
We can and will defeat this draconian bill; and please accept my heartfelt
thanks for all the hard work you have done.
Bill Hemby
PetPAC
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