ABC News 20/20 Documentary "Cruelty to Owners", Part 1 - Page 4

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• Provide only six months to implement the program, develop forms, train staff and develop complex regulations.

• Requires voluminous records be kept for five years

• Exempts shelters and animal control facilities from the requirement of providing to adopters the information pet shops must give consumers, even though they are also transfering animals to consumers.

Click Here to read the full text of this long, convoluted bill.

Although we disagree fundamentally with the overall punitive approach taken by HB 198, the provisions we find particularly unreasonable are its 20 dog limit and excessive kennel standards. This bill is a glaring example of some of the worst animal legislation currently proposed in the country, and NAIA will oppose it emphatically.
Now is the time for all responsible animal owners in Illinois to contact your State Representatives with the message that HB 198 is irresponsible and unfair and must not be allowed to move forward.

While we believe that steps should be taken to identify and eliminate substandard kennels, this bill stretches way beyond that goal and targets all breeders and sportsmen, commercial and hobby, good and bad, large and small. Worse yet, it profiles and punishes responsible breeders who provide the best source of healthy pets to the community.
There are more effective solutions available to help eliminate substandard kennels, from stronger enforcement of existing cruelty and nuisance laws to educating consumers about how to seek out responsible and humane sources of healthy pets.
Please use the talking points below to write an email to your legislator today, educating them about this bill early in the process, before it receives formal consideration.
Thank you for TAKING ACTION on behalf of pets and pet owners!   If you received this email from a friend, be sure to sign up HERE to receive NA

It seems to me that many of the laws that are being pushed are unconstitutional.

The SPCA takes private property and there is no appealing the judges decision!

The worst part is that people are so into being tolerant that noone is doing a thing about it.

Our guns are quickly being turned in to plows, soon we will live in a dictatorship.

I understand that the SPCAs are seperate entities, but isn't there some form of charter that they agree to in order to use the SPCA name?  ?I think that I would start there, and perhaps the Vet. Board in the state, if the DVMs are not being listened to, then the affiliation and provision of services could be stopped.

Sad to say though, some of those people looked like they had trouble caring for themselves let alone more than one hundred dogs.  Who has that many dogs and leaves them untended for four days? 

Lorri

I did not see 100 dogs in that clip. just because the owner was gone does not mean someone else was not checking on the dogs..

"Sad to say though, some of those people looked like they had trouble caring for themselves let alone more than one hundred dogs.  Who has that many dogs and leaves them untended for four days?  

Lorri"

Here's the problem.  We don't know if the dogs were or were not left without any care for 4 days.  And, the legal system is severely flawed if an agency, with state permission, can simply come onto your property, cart off every one of the animals present, REGARDLESS OF CONDITION, with no right to a trial by a jury of your peers.

We are going to get into a lot of trouble if we judge a person by his or her appearance, or even by how much money he or she has, or with what kind of accent a person speaks, etc.  If, at a trial where a person can defend himself, the judge finds the person unable to properly care for the animals, then we might see some shred of justice.  The situation in Texas, as it stands now, is a mockery of the rule of law.

Keep in mind, there are groups all across the US today, who are salivating to be able to regulate anyone who breeds dogs or cats out of existence.  In many places, if you own 3 intact bitches (very easy to do, if you have smaller breeds or even GSD's) you're automatically a "dog dealer" and subject to strict regulation.  Dog breeders and owners don't need to give these individuals help, as we tear each other apart, and finger-point because our rival doesn't have the exact same philosophy we do.  While we're applauding the confiscation of someone else's animals, we may be tightening the noose around our own necks.

This does not mean, we all shouldn't adhere to ethical standards and personal goals to treat our animals with high standards.  It does mean, we're all in this together, and if not careful, we all may end up one day unable to own an intact, purebred dog of our choice.