msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Mounted search and rescue
List archive
[MSAR] Fw: Representative Shelly Short **SPECIAL ALERT**
- From: "John-Faye Neff" <neffj@msn.com>
- To: "Laura Huddleston" <Natures_renewal@comcast.net>, "Tamea Denault" <tdenault@oz.net>, "Sylvia Holly" <sbholly2003@yahoo.com>, "Sue Richardson" <suer@plix.com>, "Shelley Jefferson" <jeffers4@students.wwu.edu>, "Sara Walker" <LavenderCrow72@yahoo.com>, "Ross Walker" <rossw2112@yahoo.com>, "QO-Paul Fleming" <pfleming@nwlink.com>, "msar-riders" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>, "Linda Zehnder" <llzehnder@comcast.net>, "Jim_Betty Neff" <bettysn@aol.com>, "Hal Hansen" <hal2005@centurytel.net>, "Erik Neff" <neffej@msn.com>, "Elvin Forsman" <elvinf@centurytel.net>, "Elaine Saunders" <jhs190@earthlink.net>, "Daniel Holly" <danholly73@yahoo.com>
- Subject: [MSAR] Fw: Representative Shelly Short **SPECIAL ALERT**
- Date: Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:46:50 -0000
Farmers, ranchers and horsemen you should be aware of this bill.
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Garrow
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2011 3:00 PM Read this! Another city idiot.
Bob
SPECIAL
ALERT YOUR
ACTION IS NEEDED! Dear friends
and neighbors, I
need your help. I've just been made aware of proposed legislation that could
have drastic consequences for animal owners in Eastern
Washington. Unfortunately, this is another example of
urban legislation having unintended consequences for our more rural
lifestyle. Senate Bill 5065 is a bill sponsored by an urban Republican
Senator to help address animal cruelty. It looks to me like this bill is
trying to look out for that little poodle chained up in a backyard during 20
degree weather or in the middle of a snowstorm. But for those of us who
own and ride horses or other animals, it may have a significant
affect. The
bill seeks to strengthen existing animal cruelty laws by enacting stricter
penalties (including a gross misdemeanor for repeat offenders) and by
laying out specific definitions. Here is part of the new section in
law: NEW SECTION.
Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 16.52 RCW to read as
follows:
(1) An owner
who, under circumstances not amounting to animal cruelty in the first or second
degree, fails to provide an animal with necessary food, water, shelter,
ventilation, rest, sanitation, space, or medical attention has committed the
infraction of failure to provide care.
(2) Failure to provide care is a class 2 civil
infraction under RCW 36 7.80.120(1)(b). One
of the concerns I have is that the above directives are left up to quite a bit of
interpretation. If someone walks by my tethered horse
as we're getting ready for a parade or other ride, and they don't see "necessary
food" or "water," am I going to be reported and an animal cruelty investigation
started? The bill requires the food and water to be "easily accessible to
the animal." But who's to say that my daughter didn't just give the horse
food and water just a few moments ago? And
what about "shelter"? The law defines shelter as "a constructed or
natural structure that keeps the animal dry and protected from the elements,
allows the animal to turn around freely, sit, stand, and lie without
restriction, and does not cause injury, disfigurement, or physical impairment to
the animal." Again, I think about my husband taking our horses out hunting
and tethering them up together. Is he now going to have to construct
shelter for them while out on his hunting trips? Another
concern I have is that the bill includes a specific exemption for the "accepted
animal husbandry practices commonly used in the commercial raising and
slaughtering of livestock or poultry." While I certainly agree that animal
husbandry should be exempt, the problem is, as soon as you put a specific
exemption like this into statute, it begs the question: "Who isn't
exempt?" I fear many of us in Eastern Washington who
own a few horses for recreational purposes or raise a few animals for
non-commercial use would NOT be exempt. HOW YOU CAN
HELP
I'm
working with the bill's sponsor and with appropriate committee chairmen to write
up an amendment to address some of my concerns. But I need you to share
your concerns with me so I have more information - more ammo - to help
our case. You can e-mail me at: short.shelly@leg.wa.gov or call the
toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. The bill passed the
Senate and is being heard in the House Judiciary Committee next Tuesday, so I
need your comments by Monday afternoon. If
you need more information on the bill, you can click here where you can view the
bill and the bill report. Thank you so
much for your efforts. Sincerely,
Rep. Shelly
Short 7th
Legislative District |
- [MSAR] Fw: Representative Shelly Short **SPECIAL ALERT**, John-Faye Neff, 03/04/2011
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.