Newsflash
On 4/4/12, Governor Tomblin vetoed the Exotics Bill. The story is that it was vetoed on the concerns of the DNR (Dept. of Natural Resources) that they had neither the funding nor the ability to enforce this bill. The Governor signed into law SB 75 which is the equine facility act. This law becomes effective 7-1-12.
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Taking Action for Animals throughout West Virginia
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Daily Activity at the 2012 State Legislature |
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Written by Theresa Bruner
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Thursday, 12 January 2012 03:46 |
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Sylvia Shafer who is the main lobbyist for Charleston Kanawha Humane Society & also the Associate Director of FOHO WV Legislative Action provided us with first-hand reports from the Capital during the past 2012 legislative session. Only 2 animal bills made it through the legislative session out of many. SB 477, exotics regulation and SB 75 which has to do with standards for horse rescues. We will leave this information posted for a while and then we will archive it along with past legislative sessions on this site. We are starting now to prepare for legislative 2013. Your shelter may be contacted for information to complete a much needed survey on animal deaths, operating expenses, etc as we prepare our convincing arguments to again gain spay neuter funding from the WV State Legislature.
You can read any of these bills by going to left menu on this site 2012 WV Legislature/Search...click on bill status and then enter the bill number. Find your legislator and their contact information using that legislative search, go to bottom right of site and enter in your zip code.
You will read Sylvia's daily log of activity and then occasionally you will note a FOHO WV Legislative Action comment.
Mar. 10
SB 477: The Senate just concurred with the House Amendment. Now the bill will move on to the Governor's desk to be signed or vetoed.
Sylvia
SB 75 has passed and is on the way to the Governor's Office.
SB 477 passed the House with 27 delegates voted against the bill and all but four were Republicans.
The Democrats that voted NO are Craig of Cabell, Marcum of Mingo, Reynolds of Cabell and Rodighiero of Logan.
The following are all Republicans: Anderson of Wood, Andes of Putnam, Border of Wood, Canterbury of Greenbrier, Cowles of Morgan, Gearheart of Mercer, Householder of Berkeley, Howell of Mineral, Kump of Berkeley, Lane of Kanawha, C. Miller of Cabell, J Miller of Berkeley, Nelson of Kanawha, O'Neal of Raleigh, Pasdon of Monongalia, Romine of Tyler, Rowan of Hampshire, Savilla of Putnam, Sigler of Nicholas, Snuffer of Raleigh, Sobonya of Cabell, Sumner of Raleigh, and Walters of Kanawha.
Please do not try to read the bill until the Enrolled Sub is on the state website. The amendment will be in that version. The Rules are to be written by DNR after public hearings to determine which animals are to be covered in this law. The law becomes effective 7-1-12 but not really. The Rules must be promulgated by the Legislators after the Rules are written. This will probably be in the 2013 session. Sylvia
FOHO WV Legislative Action note: It is important to note who votes for and against animal bills. Animal advocates support animal measures with their vote for those who represent their interest.
Mar. 8
Our spay/neuter and puppy mill bills died last night. This is heartbreaking. Thanks to all of you who have helped. I would like to see a hundred or more of you come to Charleston for an Animal Day to show the legislators that we have many people who care about animals. If we show up on the same day wearing animal shirts, we will have more of an impact. More on this later.
SB 75 and SB 477 are still alive but all other animal bills are dead. Sylvia
FOHO WV Legislative Action note: Very sad for WV animals. See our note on March
7 for reasons to support the two animal bills that are left. Exotics, SB 477 and
Equine Facilities Act, SB 75. They are very important too.
Mar. 7
SB 75 The Equine Facilities Act passed out of House Judiciary this afternoon. It will have three readings on the floor of the house with the 3rd being on Sat. March 10th, the end of the session for passage or failure.
SB 477. The Exotic bill also passed out of House Judiciary this afternoon. This bill was amended by that committee. It is still a good bill. The Rules will have to be written next session (2013) and the animals will be named that are covered by this bill. They should only be the dangerous exotics such as lions, etc. Even if this bill passes this session, it will not be effective until after the 2013 session. Please do not listen to rumors that you cannot keep your hamster or parrot. This bill deserves your support. Like SB 75 it will be up for passage on Sat. Since the 477 was amended today, when it passes the House, it must go back to the Senate for concurrence.
If you support either of these bills, please email your members of the House of Delegates and ask them to support the bill.
Sylvia
FOHO WV Legislative Action note: Ginnie Maurer, FOHO Legislative Action Board Member and founder of Animal Advocates of WV provides reasons to support these two bills!!
SB 477 Exotics Regulation Bill: WV was found to be one of the few states with NO regulations on exotics ownership. No one wants to witness the killing of exotic animals as we all saw occur last year in Zanesville, Ohio. Yet, we have had our own incidents of wild exotic animals going on the rampage. For instance, in July 1998 in Sprague, West Virginia, a pet chimpanzee escaped from his enclosure and jumped into a postal truck, forcing the driver to flee and causing the truck to crash. The chimp followed the postal worker out of the truck, and the two grappled until the chimp’s owner intervened. In August 2000, this same chimpanzee escaped his cage and bit two individuals while roaming his neighborhood. In 2001 in Berkeley County, a pet monkey bit three children; the monkey was relocated to a sanctuary. In 2003 in Buckhannon, a pet lemur escaped from his home. In 2005 in Huntington, a child was bitten by a capuchin monkey. In 2006 in Pocahontas County, a 400-pound Asian brown bear escaped from his enclosure and was never found. In 2007 in Greenbrier County, a deer hunter reported seeing a250- to 300-pound male African lion in the woods; the Department of Natural Resources confirmed this was the second report they had received about the lion. In 2008 in Pocahontas County, an escaped tiger was killed by his owner in the Monongahela National Forest.
Mar. 6
All of our bills seem to be stuck in a committee. Tomorrow is the last day for them to move out of committee and to the floor. If you did not send your emails, please do so tonight. Thanks to all of you who have helped.
Sylvia
All animal bills except for the following died yesterday. The bills still alive are as follows:
SB 75 Equine Facilities Act
SB 406 Puppy Mill Bill
SB 421 Deer Farm Bill
SB 477 Exotic bill
SB 479 Spay/Neuter Assistance
SB 527 Livestock trespassing Sylvia
FOHO WV Legislative Action note:
Make sure to add this video link to your email to the delegates.
Finance Committee members:
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 March 2012 18:01 |
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Read more...
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Puppy Mills -- Much worse than you thought |
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Written by Ginnie Maurer
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Friday, 25 November 2011 16:53 |
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This article by Ginnie Maurer of Animal Advocates and FOHO Legislative Action shows that ‘puppy mills’ do exist in West Virginia. We need to tell our legislators to support legislation in the 2012 session to regulate these large commercial breeders. SB 406 has been introduced so please support it.
Ginnie Maurer
In August 2008, almost 1,000 puppies and adult dogs were rescued from a puppy mill breeding facility tucked away in the backwoods of West Virginia.
Two national animal rescue organizations, Best Friends Animal Society and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), along with the Humane Society of Parkersburg and Wood County law enforcement officials, worked in 90+ degree heat amid the stench of feces and urine to rescue these dogs from the Whispering Oaks Kennels.
According to news reports, the owner of the kennel turned over the animals and signed an agreement barring her from operating another breeding facility. She was not charged with animal neglect because of this agreement.
Two years later, in August 2010, almost 100 dogs were seized from Yip Yip Kennels, Martinsburg, West Virginia. The owner, Leonard Woods, Jr., pleaded guilty to 20 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $300 for each count plus court costs. He is barred from owning or possessing any animals for five years.
Several months later, in December 2010 in Falling Waters, West Virginia, 114 dogs were relinquished from a puppy mill. With the swift action of Berkeley County Animal Control and the support of Animal Advocates of West Virginia, all puppies and adult dogs were either adopted or transferred to rescue organizations in less than 24 hours following their seizure. The owner of the dogs, Paulette McGraw, was charged with one count animal cruelty and fined $1,000 and court costs.
By no means are these few instances isolated examples of puppy mill activity in West Virginia. Since there is no reporting or registration of puppy mills required by law in the state, no one has an exact number of the mills operating here.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 22:25 |
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2012 FOHO WVLA Winter Newsletter |
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Written by Theresa Bruner
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Wednesday, 11 January 2012 15:58 |
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Here is our first edition of FOHO WV Legislation Action News. Our compliments to Ginnie Maurer and Barbara Grigg for their efforts in putting this newsletter together. Please take the time to read the informative articles in preparation for talking with your legislators about important animal legislation. You should forward this newsletter to your representatives urging them to support measures to improve the climate for animals throughout our state.
FOHO WV Legislative Action Newsletter |
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Last Updated on Friday, 20 January 2012 20:04 |
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Why we need spay neuter funding! |
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Written by Theresa Bruner
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Saturday, 30 October 2010 06:00 |
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Information to share with legislators on spay neuter rates in WV: Please note that we have been compiling euthanasia data from animal shelters from 2008 to the present. Current data trends being tracked indicate that we are not winning the war against pet overpopulation. We need more funding to do that.
FOHO WV has been surveying WV Animal Shelters on intake and euthanasia since 2008. In 2008,we had a cross section of 12 shelters from different areas of the state that provided good statistics. Participating were counties from every region with some of our largest cities. Charleston, Berkeley Springs, Elkins, Moundsville, Grafton, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Oak Hill, Summersville, Marlinton, Pennsboro and Parkersburg all took part. In 2009, a WVU student in cooperation with FOHO WV surveyed all 55 counties, some of which do not have a facility, animal control or statistics were not kept. 18 of 55 counties reported no data kept so we know the numbers are much higher than than this. There is no mandate in WV for shelters to take cats and when they do accept cats, those euthanasia rates were very high. We are collecting 2010 and 2011 statistics and hope to have that data by the end of our 2012 conference. Spay neuter is a critical missing ingredient. We need legislation to be passed providing needed funding to reverse this trend.
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WV Dog/Cat Euthanasia Shelter Statistics (55 counties with 18 counties with no data)
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2009
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2009
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2009
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(PTS = Euthanasia)
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Total intake
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Total PTS
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PTS %
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Totals
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82,611
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44,364
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54%
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If you are an intake shelter in WV, please let us know your statistics. Send to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
total dog and puppy intake, total euthanasia of that group and total cat and kitten intake and total euthanasia of that group for 2010 and 2011. Help us to provide the needed data to track our battle against this over-whelming problem of pet over-population in West Virginia.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 26 February 2012 20:42 |
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Deciding what bills to support |
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Saturday, 30 October 2010 06:00 |
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There are usually a number of animal welfare bills that are introduced during the legislative session. We will keep you informed of the status of those bills. There are many good bills but we cannot work them all. We are volunteers just like your local group. While we may support several animal welfare bills, we focus our energies on those that we feel are most important to get passed. The spay neuter funding bill will be critical to our effort this year. We will also keep you informed about any Federal Laws that are being considered and provide appropriate links to that information.
Alone we can do so little. Together, we can do so much!
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Last Updated on Thursday, 13 January 2011 01:04 |
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