UPDATE: ART would like to confirm that we unfortunately did not succeed in getting HB429 passed in the House Agricultural Subcommittee meeting Monday, February 1st, 2010. Please read below for more information on the important details of its demise.
ART needs your help supporting House Bill 429 which aims to end forever the euthanasia of animals in shelter based solely upon breed.
For those who need some background on the reason for HB 429, the following might be helpful:
Since October of 2006 when the Attorney General rendered the opinion that euthanizing a dog in a public shelter based upon breed was illegal, many Virginia shelters which were out of compliance have “cleaned up their act” but a few continue this discriminatory, uninformed and uncivilized practice. ART brought suit against Loudoun County Animal Control when that county refused to stop euthanizing pit bulls based upon breed (although they sanitized the practice as the lawsuit progressed and called the euthanasia of a disproportionate number of bully breeds the result of their “temperament testing” which was designed such that the dogs would fail).
We did not win that lawsuit but we haven’t given up.
HB 429, if enacted into law, will compel Loudoun and any similarly practicing shelter to end the illegal euthanasia of otherwise healthy, happy and completely adoptable animals and truly change the future for all sheltered animals in Virginia.
Emails will make a difference and I hope folks will let their elected Delegate know they want the Delegate to SUPPORT this bill. It is best to put in your email subject “HB429 – SUPPORT”. And when emailing or calling YOUR Delegate, you should let him/her know you are his/her constituent.
Individuals might also email House Majority Leader, Delegate Morgan Griffith at DelMGriffith@house.virginia.gov and thank him for being the Chief Patron of HB429.
A citizen can find out who his/her legislator is here: http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform
Members of the House Agricultural Committee & Subcommittee, along with their email addresses are below.
As HB 429 progresses, we will keep you posted and ask that emails be sent as needed and, if folks can, going to committee meetings where the bill is heard would be great. Be aware, we often don’t know a bill will be heard until the day before, so expect short notice. Stay tuned for alerts!
Link to the bill on the General Assembly site…
HB 429 Animal welfare; prohibits city or county from euthanizing or adoption of any dog solely on breed.
H. Morgan Griffith | all patrons ... notes | add to my profiles
Summary as introduced:
Animal welfare; disposition of animals in county or city pounds. Prohibits city or county pounds from euthanizing, or prohibiting the adoption of, any dog based solely on breed.
Full text:
01/12/10 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/10 10102060D pdf
Status:
01/12/10 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/10 10102060D
01/12/10 House: Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
01/20/10 House: Assigned ACNRsub: #1 Agriculture
Sincerely,
Debra Griggs
Founder and Vice President of ART
House Agricultural Subcommittee 2010
Delegate Matthew J Lohr (Chair) DelMLohr@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Robert D Orrock, Sr. DelBOrrock@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Edward T Scott DelEScott@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Daniel W Marshall III DelDMarshall@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Charles D Poindexter DelCPoindexter@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Richard P Bell DelDBell@house.virginia.gov
Delegate James M Shuler DelJShuler@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Matthew James DelMJames@house.virginia.gov
House Agricultural Committee 2010
Delegate Harvey B Morgan (Chair) DelHMorgan@house.virginia.gov
Delegate R. Lee Ware, Jr. DelLWare@house.virginia.gov
Delegate M Kirkland Cox DelKCox@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Beverly J Sherwood DelBSherwood@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Thomas C Wright, Jr. DelTWright@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Robert D Orrock, Sr. DelBOrrock@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Edward T Scott DelEScott@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Daniel W Marshall III DelDMarshall@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Matthew J Lohr DelMLohr@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Charles D Poindexter DelCPoindexter@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Brenda L Pogge DelBPogge@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Barry D Knight DelBKnight@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Richard P Bell DelDBell@house.virginia.gov
Delegate James E Edmunds, II DelJEdmunds@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Kenneth R Plum DelKPlum@house.virginia.gov
Delegate James M Shuler DelJShuler@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Lynnwood W Lewis, Jr. DelLLewis@house.virginia.gov
Delegate David L Bulova DelDBulova@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Mark D Sickles DelMSickles@house.virginia.gov
Delegate David L Englin DelDEnglin@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Matthew James DelMJames@house.virginia.gov
Delegate Luke E Torian DelLTorian@house.virginia.gov
UPDATE
While most of you have heard that we did not succeed in getting HB429 passed in the House Agricultural Subcommittee meeting Monday, February 1st, I am writing to confirm that disappointing information and offer important details about its demise.
HB429 would have made it illegal to euthanize, or prohibit the adoption of, an animal in a shelter based solely upon breed.
To civilized folks it is impossible to believe such a law would be needed but it is.
After the 2006 Attorney General Opinion that euthanizing a dog in a publicly funded shelter based solely upon breed was illegal, most Virginia shelters who did it - stopped. But a few have persisted and this bill would have made it clear that they, too, should stop.
Perhaps surprisingly, even some of those working for shelters that still have these tragic policies were genuinely hoping the state would step in and do the right thing for their animals and their community because they see first-hand the horrible suffering such policies create. One shelter in rural Virginia has a county-leadership- mandated written policy that instructs that, if not reclaimed by the owner, any dog with "pit bull like characteristics" may not be adopted out. If such a dog is not transferred to another shelter or rescue, it must be killed. The staff at that shelter works heroically to get the dogs out ALIVE.
Sadly, there are some shelters where the staff defends their policy to not adopt out and summarily kill dogs simply because their head is shaped a certain way or they are unlucky enough to have a brindle coat. We say those folks need to give up their uninformed prejudice and find a new career where the lives of innocents are not in their hands.
At the subcommittee hearing, Kay Speerstra, Executive Director of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington and Paulette Dean, Executive Director of the Danville Humane Society spoke against HB429. Notably, neither of those shelters is purported to have a breed discrimination policy. The room was full of witnesses to their statements but they made no sense to the room full of animal service professionals. Tom Koenig of Loudoun County which does have a discriminatory policy also spoke against the bill. Jeff Gore with Hefty & Wiley, a Richmond law firm spoke, said he represented Loudoun County, and passed out a list of shelters which opposed the bill which included:
We were given a letter by one of the Delegates written by Teresa Lamarche of the Virginia Beach SPCA reiterating a conversation she and Sharon Adams, VBSPCA Director had with the Delegate's Legislative Aide that the VBSPCA had "strong opposition" to HB429.
The hollow arguments given by those few in opposition were that there would be increased liability for local shelters, they would not be able to impose restrictions on adopters, they wanted such decisions left up to local jurisdictions and shelters would be over-filled with unadoptable, aggressive dogs. In truth, HB429 would have lessened liability in that it would have
incorporated the 2006 AG Opinion and clarified the code. Nothing in the language of HB429 would have disallowed adoption restrictions if they are currently legal. Shelters are already governed and heavily regulated by the State when it comes to the humane sheltering and "disposal of" animals, and this would have only clarified that breed discrimination was illegal and, finally, HB429 did not remove any of the "rights" of shelters to euthanize for the other reasons of space, aggression, illness, etc.
Speaking for the bill were representatives from the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies, the Virginia Animal Control Association, Animal Rescue of Tidewater, the Breeders and Dog Owners Association of Virginia, Ring Dog Rescue, Richmond SPCA, Richmond Animal Care and Control, even the National Federation of Humane Societies - ultimately representing thousands of animal welfare advocates across the Commonwealth.
In the end
. Delegates Sickles (Fairfax), Shuler (Alleghany, Bath, Craig, Giles, Montgomery Counties and City of Covington), and James (Portsmouth Chesapeake and Norfolk) voted FOR HB429 and
. Delegates Orrock (Spotsylvania and Caroline) , Knight (Chesapeake and Virginia Beach), Marshall (Danville, Henry & Pittsylvania) , Poindexter (Franklin, Floyd and Pittsylvania) and Lohr (Rockingham and Harrisonburg)
voted AGAINST it.
It was a fine day for those who embrace discrimination, no matter what the basis, and a sickening day for those who find it repugnant. More specifically, for any dog who might have the misfortune of having any physical characteristic that would put it in the category of "bully breed" and winding up in a shelter that discriminates, Monday's vote equals a death sentence.
So, those are the facts of the day but it's not the end of the story. Where there is such unity of purpose and commitment to the greater good, folks cannot be stopped. We will not be stopped and now we focus on next steps.
Until those next steps are clarified, if you are a constituent of a Delegate who voted against HB429, please tell him you are disappointed and will remain hopeful that the next time he is faced with the issue he will take a different position (see list of Delegates below). If you are a citizen in the City or County of a shelter who opposed it, please let shelter leadership know you disagree with that decision. Finally, if you are a constituent of one of the Delegates who voted for HB429, please thank him.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to ending breed discrimination!
VOTED AGAINST HB 429:
Delegate Matthew J Lohr Chair: DelMLohr@house. virginia. gov
Delegate Robert D Orrock, Sr.: DelBOrrock@house. vir
Delegate Daniel W Marshall III: DelDMarshall@ house.virginia. gov
Delegate Charles D Poindexter: DelCPoindexter@ house.virginia. gov
Delegate Barry D Knight: DelBKnight@house. virginia. gov
VOTED FOR HB429:
Delegate James M Shuler: DelJShuler@house. virginia. gov
Delegate Matthew James: DelMJames@house. virginia. gov
Delegate Mark D Sickles: DelMSickles@ house.virginia. gov
Sincerely,
Debra Griggs
Founder of Animal Rescue of Tidewater
