Fellow Audubon members and friends, Below you will find some good information from Audubon of Northern Virginia on bills before the General Assembly regarding feral cats. We have all seen the reports on the bird mortality caused by outdoor cats. National Audubon supports the �Cats Indoors� program, and as you will see, none of these proposals fall in line with that position. -- Lewis Barnett President, Richmond Audubon Society http://www.richmondaudubon.org Begin forwarded message: From: Carl Kikuchi <chkikuchi@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:chkikuchi@xxxxxxxxx>> Subject: VA House and Senate Bills Date: January 19, 2015 at 6:52:51 AM EST Dear fellow VAC members, ASNV recently learned of three proposed senate bills and one proposed house bill in the Virginia Legislature that would negatively impact our mission and programs. All four bills address the issue of feral cats and and are attempts to legitimize the concept of "Community Cats Programs." We strongly oppose these programs because they endanger birds and other wildlife and hope you will join us in alerting Virginia's Audubon community to take immediate action. ( attached is our Action Alert) Within the past 18 months ASNV has worked locally with jurisdictions to develop public information programs educating the community about the importance of keeping cats indoors for the wellbeing of both cats and birds. We are committed to working with others in the community, even those with whom we disagree, to achieve a common goal of reducing the number of outdoor cats. On a state level, however, we felt compelled to express our strong opposition to the proposed changes to the Virginia Code. On January 15, 2015 ASNV sent the attached letters to members of the Virginia House of Delegates Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources. We urge you to immediately alert your membership and encourage them to contact their legislators who are now in session in Richmond and express their concerns about the impact these bills will have on our native birds Carl Kikuchi President Audubon Society of Northern Virginia
Attachment:
CatsActionAlert r1.docx
Description: CatsActionAlert r1.docx
Attachment:
HouseLetterCats-Final 1.15.15.docx
Description: HouseLetterCats-Final 1.15.15.docx
Attachment:
SenateLetterCats-Final 1.14.15.docx
Description: SenateLetterCats-Final 1.14.15.docx
