There is a Bill up before the Virginia Senate for vote in January and we need your help to have it withdrawn before it goes up!
PLEASE FORWARD! YES, PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIVE IN VA CAN HELP!
IF THIS PASSES IN VIRGINIA, IT ~WILL~ BE TRIED IN OTHER STATES!
Here's what Virginia Senate Bill 55 would do:
1. Require pet 'dealers' (anyone who sells a pet for 'compensation or
profit') to get both a dealer's license -- $150/year for that -- and a local
business license. There's a $1000 fine if you should have a dealer's
license and don't get one.
2. Defines a 'Hobby breeder' as "an individual who owns dogs or cats and
wishes to breed and find homes for one litter, and this breeding is not for
profit." There are also definitions for both 'breed improver' and 'fancier
breeder' but neither of them is used in the bill or law.
3. You can't sell or advertise a pet for sale without a dealer's license.
Dealers must give copies of their business license to a newspaper
in which they want to advertise and to any buyer. Anyone buying a pet
who does not get a copy of a business license will be fined $150.
4. Money raised by licensing of dealers doesn't go to the general fund (as
animal-related revenue does now) but must be used for animal control
"including but not limited to spay/neuter programs."
5. Dealers and hobby breeders must either spay/neuter pets before sale or
there must be a contract requiring the same not later than six months of
age. Violations cost $150.
6. After January 1, 2007, all dogs and cats sold must be microchipped
before sale with the chip registered to both the seller and the buyer.
7. Only a hobby breeder may buy a dog or cat without spay/neuter by six
months of age and (under the definition of hobby breeder) it must be
sterilized after one litter.
THE FIRST THING WE NEED TO DO
... is ask the sponsor of the bill to WITHDRAW it. We should send copies
of those emails to the chairman of the committee that will hear the bill
first.
The sponsor of SB 55 is Sen. Wm. Roscoe Reynolds. Here's his contact
information:
Capitol Office:
email: [email protected]
Phone: (804) 698-7520
Fax: (804) 698-7651 (be sure to include a cover sheet for Sen. Reynolds)
District Office (will be closed after session opens Wed.)
email: [email protected]
Phone: (276) 638-2315
Send a cc of your email to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, Sen. Charles R. Hawkins
at:
email: [email protected]
You can call, email, and fax, according to your preferences.
Phone calls are excellent. Out of hours you'll probably get voice mail and
you can leave a very simple message: "I am calling to ask that you
WITHDRAW SB 55. This would be a very bad law for Virginia pet owners
and our state." (Your own words ...) During a working day you'll
probably get a real person; ask for the aide who handles animal bills and give your
message there. Most likely there won't be any questions.
BE POLITE! BE POLITE! BE POLITE!
You must include your address in your email; your phone number is optional.
If you are out of state but have friends or relatives in Virginia, be sure
to say so! Remember: A bad bill that passes in one state will be tried in
several others the next year.
Below are some points you might want to mention and a copy of my email.
You can follow the form of mine but be sure to use your own words and
ideas. Duplicates and form letters hit the circular file quickly in most
offices!
Keep it short -- the whole body of your email should fit on the usual 25
line screen at one time. Don't think you have to write a great email. Even
just saying "Please WITHDRAW this terrible bill" is helpful.
Thank you!
POINTS YOU MIGHT MENTION
... pick the two or three that matter most to you!
1. SB 55 will discourage home breeding meaning that more pets will come
from pet stores.
2. Costs $150 for dealer license plus the cost of a (required) business
license. Home hobby breeding (the source of the best pets) is already a
'might break even' proposition, why is it good to further discourage it with
more costs?
3. Except in rural areas it may not be possible to get a business license in
a residential location. If you can get one it may require compliance with
other laws.
4. The law would cause some owners to dump puppies in shelter drops or
abandon or kill them rather than try to place them and run the risk of
getting fined for selling without a license.
5. Some breeders would try to hide so they couldn't even be inspected for
animal welfare.
6. The cost of enforcement would be large and would have to be deducted
from revenue. In practice, such a complex law could not be enforced.
Think of the 'war on drugs' where we're willing to spend huge amounts of
money, but we have scarcely cut supplies at all.
7. This law is certain to be "improved" in future years by the addition of
inspections, litter fees, and so on.
8. Do we really need government to control the breeding of pets?
9. By discouraging the best breeders, SB 55 would lower the quality of the
pet population leading to more abandonment of pets at animal shelters.
10. The bill does not allow selling or buying of breeding stock except by
one-litter hobby breeders. Where do quality breeders get future stock?
11. What exactly is the problem this bill is supposed to fix?
12. SB 55 is nearly identical to HB 2927, filed during the 2005 session and
withdrawn less than two weeks later by Delegate Terry Kilgore.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Senator Reynolds:
I'm writing to ask that you WITHDRAW SB 55 which would require
licensing of Virginia's home breeders of pets.
My wife and I breed and rescue whippet dogs near Lexington. We've been
active in opposing bad pet laws (and supporting the occasional good bill)
for about four years now.
SB 55 is the worst pet-related bill yet to show up in Virginia and the worst
state bill we're aware of. If this bill should pass, it will seriously
damage home hobby and 'pin money' breeding in our state. Where will people get
their pets? From pet shops, illegal (unlicensed and hidden) breeders, and
out of state, that's where.
SB 55 is NOT wise public policy. It is pure 'animal rights' religion,
aimed not at making people and pets happier together but at taking a long
step toward getting rid of pets. Hard to believe anyone could promote
such fruitcake, isn't it? But there's a nationwide movement behind it
and we see large parts of SB 55 in several states per year.
Please WITHDRAW SB 55.
PLEASE FORWARD! YES, PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIVE IN VA CAN HELP!
IF THIS PASSES IN VIRGINIA, IT ~WILL~ BE TRIED IN OTHER STATES!
Here's what Virginia Senate Bill 55 would do:
1. Require pet 'dealers' (anyone who sells a pet for 'compensation or
profit') to get both a dealer's license -- $150/year for that -- and a local
business license. There's a $1000 fine if you should have a dealer's
license and don't get one.
2. Defines a 'Hobby breeder' as "an individual who owns dogs or cats and
wishes to breed and find homes for one litter, and this breeding is not for
profit." There are also definitions for both 'breed improver' and 'fancier
breeder' but neither of them is used in the bill or law.
3. You can't sell or advertise a pet for sale without a dealer's license.
Dealers must give copies of their business license to a newspaper
in which they want to advertise and to any buyer. Anyone buying a pet
who does not get a copy of a business license will be fined $150.
4. Money raised by licensing of dealers doesn't go to the general fund (as
animal-related revenue does now) but must be used for animal control
"including but not limited to spay/neuter programs."
5. Dealers and hobby breeders must either spay/neuter pets before sale or
there must be a contract requiring the same not later than six months of
age. Violations cost $150.
6. After January 1, 2007, all dogs and cats sold must be microchipped
before sale with the chip registered to both the seller and the buyer.
7. Only a hobby breeder may buy a dog or cat without spay/neuter by six
months of age and (under the definition of hobby breeder) it must be
sterilized after one litter.
THE FIRST THING WE NEED TO DO
... is ask the sponsor of the bill to WITHDRAW it. We should send copies
of those emails to the chairman of the committee that will hear the bill
first.
The sponsor of SB 55 is Sen. Wm. Roscoe Reynolds. Here's his contact
information:
Capitol Office:
email: [email protected]
Phone: (804) 698-7520
Fax: (804) 698-7651 (be sure to include a cover sheet for Sen. Reynolds)
District Office (will be closed after session opens Wed.)
email: [email protected]
Phone: (276) 638-2315
Send a cc of your email to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, Sen. Charles R. Hawkins
at:
email: [email protected]
You can call, email, and fax, according to your preferences.
Phone calls are excellent. Out of hours you'll probably get voice mail and
you can leave a very simple message: "I am calling to ask that you
WITHDRAW SB 55. This would be a very bad law for Virginia pet owners
and our state." (Your own words ...) During a working day you'll
probably get a real person; ask for the aide who handles animal bills and give your
message there. Most likely there won't be any questions.
BE POLITE! BE POLITE! BE POLITE!
You must include your address in your email; your phone number is optional.
If you are out of state but have friends or relatives in Virginia, be sure
to say so! Remember: A bad bill that passes in one state will be tried in
several others the next year.
Below are some points you might want to mention and a copy of my email.
You can follow the form of mine but be sure to use your own words and
ideas. Duplicates and form letters hit the circular file quickly in most
offices!
Keep it short -- the whole body of your email should fit on the usual 25
line screen at one time. Don't think you have to write a great email. Even
just saying "Please WITHDRAW this terrible bill" is helpful.
Thank you!
POINTS YOU MIGHT MENTION
... pick the two or three that matter most to you!
1. SB 55 will discourage home breeding meaning that more pets will come
from pet stores.
2. Costs $150 for dealer license plus the cost of a (required) business
license. Home hobby breeding (the source of the best pets) is already a
'might break even' proposition, why is it good to further discourage it with
more costs?
3. Except in rural areas it may not be possible to get a business license in
a residential location. If you can get one it may require compliance with
other laws.
4. The law would cause some owners to dump puppies in shelter drops or
abandon or kill them rather than try to place them and run the risk of
getting fined for selling without a license.
5. Some breeders would try to hide so they couldn't even be inspected for
animal welfare.
6. The cost of enforcement would be large and would have to be deducted
from revenue. In practice, such a complex law could not be enforced.
Think of the 'war on drugs' where we're willing to spend huge amounts of
money, but we have scarcely cut supplies at all.
7. This law is certain to be "improved" in future years by the addition of
inspections, litter fees, and so on.
8. Do we really need government to control the breeding of pets?
9. By discouraging the best breeders, SB 55 would lower the quality of the
pet population leading to more abandonment of pets at animal shelters.
10. The bill does not allow selling or buying of breeding stock except by
one-litter hobby breeders. Where do quality breeders get future stock?
11. What exactly is the problem this bill is supposed to fix?
12. SB 55 is nearly identical to HB 2927, filed during the 2005 session and
withdrawn less than two weeks later by Delegate Terry Kilgore.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Senator Reynolds:
I'm writing to ask that you WITHDRAW SB 55 which would require
licensing of Virginia's home breeders of pets.
My wife and I breed and rescue whippet dogs near Lexington. We've been
active in opposing bad pet laws (and supporting the occasional good bill)
for about four years now.
SB 55 is the worst pet-related bill yet to show up in Virginia and the worst
state bill we're aware of. If this bill should pass, it will seriously
damage home hobby and 'pin money' breeding in our state. Where will people get
their pets? From pet shops, illegal (unlicensed and hidden) breeders, and
out of state, that's where.
SB 55 is NOT wise public policy. It is pure 'animal rights' religion,
aimed not at making people and pets happier together but at taking a long
step toward getting rid of pets. Hard to believe anyone could promote
such fruitcake, isn't it? But there's a nationwide movement behind it
and we see large parts of SB 55 in several states per year.
Please WITHDRAW SB 55.
