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STATES TACKLE COCKFIGHTING:
More than a dozen anti-cockfighting bills are pending in state
legislatures. In Oregon, where cockfighting is currently a misdemeanor, a
bill that would raise the penalties to a felony and would make the
possession of fighting birds illegal passed the House by a vote of 45 – 9
and is headed to the Senate. Oregon’s current law contains a glaring
loophole that allows the breeding of fighting birds, allowing gamecock
farms to turn tremendous profits while supplying the barbaric and largely
illegal cockfighting industry. The Maryland House unanimously passed (140
to 0) a bill to make various aspects of cockfighting—possession of
fighting animals, using one's property for fights, and being a spectator
at a cockfight—a felony offense. In New Mexico, one of two states where
cockfighting remains legal, the state House passed a bill 45 - 21 to ban
cockfighting and make it a felony. Legislation is also pending in
Arkansas (H.B. 2190), California (S.B. 732), Colorado (S.B. 65), Florida
(H.B. 1429 & S.B. 2350), Hawaii (S.B. 1581), Illinois (H.B. 1089 & S.B.
387), Iowa (H.F. 76), Minnesota (H.F. 28 & S.F. 126), and Nebraska (L.B.
273). There’s also a pro-cockfighting measure in one state. In Oklahoma,
pro-cockfighting legislators are pushing a bill, S.B. 835, to gut the
penalties for the recent, voter-approved ballot initiative that outlawed
cockfighting and made it a felony. Contact your state legislators in
reference to these important bills. You can look up the contact
information and names of your legislators at all levels of government at
http://action.fund.org/directory/.
Rhode Island residents please read and take action
A Historic Vote For Animal Companions Is Imminent
On Wednesday, March 26th, the Health, Education and Welfare Committee of the Rhode Island House, will vote on HB 5817, a measure sponsored by Representative Peter L. Lewiss and others, which would vastly improve the protections and treatment of animals in Rhode Island.
The
bill, called the Rhode Island Animal Protection Act, creates the new
crime of "Animal Abuse" with much more severe penalties than those under current
"Animal Cruelty" statutes. Among its many strong provisions the bill
would:
Create
felony animal abuse and sexual assault charges resulting in stiff jail time and
financial penalties;
-
Allow trained SPCA and other animal welfare representatives to act as law
enforcement officers in response to animal neglect and abuse cases;
- Ban
bodily alterations, disablements or removals done to animals “except as
necessary for proper veterinary care or population control”;
- Ban sport
animal fighting and impose severe consequences for participating in it;
-
Set procedures to take all animals away from convicted abusers and prohibit them
from keeping any new ones,
- Set high financial penalties, including
possible large punitive and emotional damage awards, for the abuse, and
especially the killing, of an animal companion;
- Require that detailed
information about convicted animal-abusing criminals be given to law
enforcement, schools, animal welfare and other agencies so abusers can be
tracked and deterred from harming animals and/or people again.
This
excellent bill is already being threatened with a flood of negative emails due
to national action alerts posted by industries that are exploitive of
animals.
It is crucial that
| Dixie Chicks dodged PETA-fed fire | |
| Plus: Oscar parties pooping out; goody bag befitting a Queen |
It turns out that the Chicks are staunch animal-rights supporters, but at the last minute the group’s management put the kibosh on the ad. “The Chicks themselves were lovely about the whole thing, but their management got worried that some of their fans were rifle-toting, Bambi-shooting types who would take offense at an anti-fur, pro-animal message,” says a source. “They forbid release of the ad because they were worried about backlash or boycott. They even tried to pay PETA $10,000 to say it never happened.”
The Chicks’ spokeswoman didn’t return calls for comment.
“They are the Dixie Chicks, not the Stepford Wives,” says a PETA spokesman, who confirms that the singers posed for the ad but declined further comment. “Agree with them or not, this trio became a phenomenon because they have country hearts with modern sensibilities and aren’t afraid to voice their views. And we hope that one day they’ll let us release this ad.”