CFA Legislative ALERT
Last Updated: Sunday, July 13, 2008
DC B17-089 Hearing and final vote is Tuesday, July 15th. ACT NOW!
Fanciers;
This bill impacts everyone - cat, dog, rabbit and ferret owners, rescuers and breeders in Washington, DC.
The Animal Protection Amendment Act of 2008 (B17-089) will be voted on by the Committee of the Whole (all Councilmembers) Tuesday, July 15th. The first vote was unanimously in favor. There will be no testimony so your contact TOMORROW with all councilmembers is our only hope to remove detrimental portions of the bill.
Only a huge challenge will stop this draconian bill from passing as written. We were only made aware of the amended bill on Friday. Last year we aggressively opposed and successfully removed provisions in the original proposals including mandatory spay/neuter and the "guardian" word.
The text of the 27 page Engrossed "new" B17-089 is on the DC website.
This bill is comprehensive and covers many dangerous dog issues. CFA has focused on three components - cat licensing, the mandated impoundment of animals over the existing limit of 4 and the "commercial license" for breeders who raise and sell/adopt 25 animals per year. We have urged the Council to DELETE these provisions. Alley Cat Allies is actively opposing the cat licensing and the impoundment as these are extremely detrimental to all of our efforts to reduce the numbers of homeless cats. 33% of cat owners obtain their cats as strays - homeless cats present a huge problem that will only be made worse by licensing and impoundment.
Read the CFA letter.
WHAT TO DO:
Send an email immediately to all 13 Councilmembers by using one email address - membersonly@dccouncil.us
CALL Councilmember offices, especially if you live in the District of Columbia. Hand deliver, if possible, short letters to the offices - Monday. Phone numbers and suite numbers are below.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS IN DC TO ACT: Only an outraged public will prevent this bill from passing as engrossed.
SUGGESTED POINTS:
1. Cat licensing is a failure everywhere with less than 6% to 10% compliance. Cat owners simply consider this to be pet owner taxation. Cat licensing means fewer homeless cats taken off the streets and into homes and fewer reclaimed if in a shelter. The freeroaming/unowned or "loosely owned" cats will be ignored and continue to reproduce. Cat licensing costs taxpayers money because revenues rarely cover administrative and enforcement costs. Cat licensing can only be effectively enforced by intrusive and expensive door-to-door canvassing or by rounding up cats without visible collar/tag ID.
2. Impoundment of pets over the existing limit of 4 - this includes cats, dogs, rabbits and ferrets or a combination. The Mayor "SHALL" impound people's pets even if that 5th animal is well cared for and happy in a good home. This is an extreme anti-pet ownership mandate. DC does have an "animal hobby permit" for those with 5 or more animals, but any animals over whatever number is approved shall also be impounded. Only 25 of these permits exist per last year's check. Any cat impounded would have a 70% chance of being killed in the shelters in DC. This would mean fewer animals rescued, fostered or taken off the streets and obviously would increase shelter numbers and possibly lead to abandonment of cats - as many people feel a cat has a better chance on the streets than in animal control.
3. Commercial Animal Breeder License would be required for any breeder who raises and sells 25 animals per year. This would include a cat fancier with a very moderate breeding program with approximately 4 or 5 queens since cats usually need to be bred every 8 to 10 months, depending on breed, to protect their health. Home-based breeders provide excellent pedigreed cats as pets and they are NOT "commercial" and should not have to comply with inspections, rules, standards and management established for "facilities".
Anyone involved with a "pet care facility" such as day or night boarding of animals, grooming or training should be concerned with the provision for "Commercial Pet Care Facilities - Rulemaking". We believe this would impact rescuers who would need a business license with an "Inspected Sales and Services license endorsement.
ATTEND the meeting if you can - there will be no opportunity to speak but we hope some fanciers will monitor any discussion before the vote.
Committee of the Whole
10AM - Tuesday July 15, 2008
Room 500
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue. NW
Washington, DC 20004
Nine out of 13 councilmembers are sponsors:
Introduced by: Cheh, Brown, Catania, Graham, Gray
Co-sponsored by: Barry, Evans, Mendelson, Wells.
Schwartz, Graham, Bowser, Thomas and Alexander may be the only ones willing to bring up our opposition points at Tuesday's hearing.
We only have one day to derail this!!
Joan Miller
CFA Legislative Coordinator
JMillerArt@aol.com
To contact ALL Councilmembers - membersonly@dccouncil.us
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Chairman Vincent C. Gray - Suite 504, 202-724-8032, at large, Dem.
Carol Schwartz - Suite 404, 202-724-8105, at large, Rep.
David A Catania - Suite 110, 202-724-7772, at large, Ind.
Phil Mendelson - Suite 402, 202-724-8064, at large, Dem.
Kwame R. Brown - Suite 506, 202-724-8174, at large, Dem.
Jim Graham - Suite 105, 202-724-8181, Ward 1, Dem.
Jack Evans - Suite 106, 202-724-8058, Ward 2, Dem. Chair Pro Tem
Mary M. Cheh - Suite 108, 202-724-8062, Ward 3, Dem, Primary sponsor
Muriel Bowser - Suite 406, 202-724-8052, Ward 4, Dem.
Harry Thomas, Jr. - Suite 107, 202-724-8028, Ward 5, Dem.
Tommy Wells - Suite 408, 202-724-8072, Ward 6, Dem.
Yvette Alexander - Suite 400, 202-724-8068, Ward 7, Dem.
Marion Barry - Suite 102, 202-724-8045, Ward 8, Dem.
Committee of the Whole (All Councilmembers)
Clerk, Christopher Murry - Suite 202 or 410, 202-724-8196 cmurray@dccouncil.us
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Joan Miller
CFA Legislative Coordinator
To correspond with the CFA Legislative Committee, please send email to legislation@cfa.org
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