Competitive Place 3 campaign for Austin City Council

By attending the No Kill Coalition's candidates' forum on Sunday, May 1st, it was hard to discern a major difference in support for No Kill among the candidates for Place 3, the only competitive race in Austin's City Council election on Saturday, May 14. All three candidates for Place 3 pledged support for City Council's No Kill goal. The candidates' responses to the questionnaire sent out by FixAustin also showed that all three Place 3 contenders support No Kill.

Yet a number of Austin Pets Alive leaders are expressing personal support for Randi Shade. The Austin American Statesman endorsed incumbent Council Member Shade. Council Member Mike Martinez has also indicated his support for her. The Austin Chronicle, on the other hand, endorsed Kathie Tovo. The Sierra Club and environmental activists have also endorsed Ms. Tovo.

With the Austin community at large split on Place 3, it's possible that, if it turns out to be a close race, animal advocates may be able to make a difference...unless we split in the same manner as the rest of the community. It would be interesting to hear more from animal advocates on why they support one candidate or another. The fact that Austin Pets Alive leaders have endorsed Council Member Shade is likely to cause some APA followers, but not all, to vote with their leaders. But as we know, the Austin animal community is not just APA. Although APA has been more visible and active politically than other animal welfare organization, we have diverse views on a number of key issues that affect animals.

If you have not been paying attention to the Place 3 race, maybe you can take some time between now and next Saturday to look at the candidates' positions and make your opinions known. Whoever is elected in Place 3 will be sitting on City Council when the Council makes one of the most important decisions affecting the lives of homeless pets that will be made this decade - what to do about the current shelter facility once the shelter moves to Levander Loop. It deserves a little bit of your time and attention in the next 6 days.

Pat Valls-Trelles

House passes HB 1451, puppy mill bill

House Passes Puppy Mill Bill
By Jordan Smith, 4:01PM, Tue. Apr. 26, Austin Chronicle
http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/news/2011-04-26/house-passes-puppy-mill-bill/

After being held up twice by Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, the Texas House finally voted this afternoon in favor of a bill that would outlaw puppy mills.

The bill, House Bill 1451, by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, earned bipartisan support in an effort to outlaw the large-scale inhumane breeding of dogs and cats. The bill requires breeders keeping 11 or more intact females to be inspected and licensed; the measure would require animals to be kept in cages of sufficient size, to be given exercise, food and water. A modest proposal indeed.
Still, Simpson – whose Longview district is home to some egregious cases of animal abuse (and whose mayor has come out in support of Thompson's measure) – argued on the House floor today that this bill just represented an expansion of government along the lines of Washington, D.C. attempts to "regulate light bulbs." Simpson says he is "very much in support of our animal cruelty laws" and that those should be "vigorously" enforced, but that this law represents a burden on breeders who operate in an ethical and humane manner. The bill only "burdens those who are keeping the law, responsible breeders."

Of course, what Simpson fails to note is that animal cruelty laws only kick in once animals have been abused and suffering – and in the case of puppy mills, often after the sickly and abused animals have been sold to consumers. The idea here is simple: Keep abuse from happening and keep consumers from being injured. Indeed, Thompson noted that the cost to taxpayers to round up and care for sick animals born in puppy mills can be great – in Longview, the city spent roughly $150,000 on a recent raid where many animals ended up having to be euthanized because they were so sick.

Despite Simpson's ongoing attempts to defeat the bill – maneuvering to pull it from the Local & Consent Calendar earned him the ire of several lawmakers, some of whom pulled their names as co-sponsors from Simpson bills – the House passed the measure today on a vote of 95-44 with two members present not voting.

April 29 Animal Issues Forum

This coming Friday, April 29, we will have an Animal Issues Forum at
Terrazas Library on Cesar Chavez from 11:45 AM - 1:15 PM. Confirmed
speakers are Council Member Chris Riley, Austin Animal Center Chief
Abigail Smith and former Houston State Rep. Debra Danburg.

An important topic to discuss with Council Member Riley and all
Council Members and candidates running in the May election is what the
city is planning for the Adoption Center that is supposed to open at
the current animal shelter site when the city moves the main shelter
to East Austin. We have heard very little public discussion about
this and it's time to ask current Council Members and candidates what
is going on in this arena. Friday, April 29 Animal Issues forum will
be an opportunity to share information on this topic.

Also we'll hear from Abigail Smith about her first six weeks as the
Animal Center's Chief of Animal Services, about items on the agenda
for the next Animal Advisory Commission and any information she may be
able to share about the upcoming budget deliberations. (You may have
heard about the budget hearings the city has already scheduled.)

Also on the agenda for April 29 will be the status of current
legislation relating to animals in the Texas House and Senate. As I
write this, HB 1451, the large scale commercial breeder bill, has not
passed the House, but is on the calendar for Tuesday. Former state
representative Debra Danburg has agreed to speak and share some of her
insights about the workings of the Legislature as it relates to animal
issues. HB 3450, the Companion Animal Protection Act, has not yet
been scheduled for a hearing so it seems unlikely to pass, but we'll
have information on the status of that bill as well. There are
numerous other bills sponsored by THLN, by HSUS and by TFACS moving
forward and we'll have updates on those as well.

Please let me know if you plan to attend so I can plan for handouts,
if any, that need to be copied. And if you cannot attend but are
interested in what is going on with the Adoption Center, with the city
budget, or with state legislation, please let me know if there is a
question I can try to get answered.

HB 1451, large scale breeder bill, on House Local and Consent calendar

Thursday, April 14

HB 1451, the large scale commercial dog breeder bill, was on the House Local and Consent calendar today. The Quorum Report had lots of coverage about what happened. Check it out under "Daily Buzz" at
http://www.quorumreport.com

Tuesday, April 5: hearing on SB 939, cockfighting bill

The following information about today's hearing on SBB 939, the cockfighting bill is from the Texas Humane Legislation Network's Action Alert:

Hearing By the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
Scheduled for
SB 939 (Lucio)
Cockfighting Bill
To strengthen current cockfighting laws.
Companion Bill to HB 1043 (Christian)

Please attend the hearing and sign a card in SUPPORT of this bill. Please, no calls or emails to the committee at this time.

Hearing information:
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
1:30 pm
Capitol Extension
Room E1.016

About the Bill:
Cockfighting is a state jail felony and has been illegal in Texas since 1907. However, it is not illegal to own or operate a facility for cockfighting; possess birds with intent to fight; own cockfighting equipment; or attend a cockfight. These loopholes are exploited by cockfighters and hinder law enforcement's ability to crack down on these operations. This bill will eliminate these loopholes and providing law enforcement with the tools necessary to investigate and prosecute cockfighting activities.

The bill will make each of these supporting activities an offense and will categorize cockfighting as an organized criminal activity, allowing the seizure of cockfighting equipment as contraband. In particular, it will make the following activities a crime:

participating in the earnings of or operating a facility used for cockfighting;
using or permitting another to use property for cockfighting;
manufacturing, buying, selling, possessing cockfighting equipment;
owning, possessing or training a cock with the intent that it be used for cockfighting; or
attending as a spectator an exhibition of cockfighting.


Please sign a card in SUPPORT of SB 939 at the hearing. Thank you for your support!

TEXAS HUMANE LEGISLATION NETWORK
Promoting the humane treatment of animals through
legislation, education and advocacy.
Visit us at www.thln.org

April 8 Aimal Issues Forum: State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and City Council Member Randi Shade

The April 8 Animal Issues Forum will feature State Representative Eddie Rodriguez and City Council Member Randi Shade. In addition to these two speakers, Abigail Smith, the new Town Lake Animal Shelter Director, will also be in attendance and has agreed to say a few words and take questions.

The forum will be from 11:30 am - 1:15 pm at Terrazas Library on Cesar Chavez. The agenda is as follows:
11:30 - 11:45 Informal networking
11:45 - 12:15 State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez
12:15 - 12:45 City Council Member Randi Shade
12:45 - 12:50 Introduce and Welcome Abigail Smith, brief remarks
12:50 - 1:15 Open dialog, any topic

If you haven't done so already, please check out the Facebook page for Animal Issues Forum and RSVP there.

HB 716, allowing sale of seats on helicopter hunts for feral hogs and coyotes

HOUSE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION bill analysis 3/30/2011 HB 716
S. Miller, Christian, Deshotel
(CSHB 716 by Deshotel)

SUBJECT:
Allowing sale of seats on helicopter hunts for feral hogs and coyotes
COMMITTEE:
Culture, Recreation, and Tourism — committee substitute recommended
VOTE:
7 ayes — Guillen, Elkins, Deshotel, T. King, Kuempel, Larson, Price
0 nays
2 absent — Dukes, T. Smith
WITNESSES:
For — (Registered, but did not testify: Marida Favia del Core Borromeo, Exotic Wildlife Association; Seth Terry, Texas Farm Bureau)
Against — Patt Nordyke, Texas Federation of Animal Care Societies); (Registered, but did not testify: Nicole Paquette, The Humane Society of the United States)
On — Scott Vaca, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Law Enforcement
BACKGROUND:
Under Parks and Wildlife Code, sec. 62.003, no person may hunt any wild bird or wild animal other than an alligator, frog, or turtle from any type of aircraft or airborne device, motor vehicle, powerboat, or sailboat, or from any other floating device, except for animals and birds not classified as migratory that are hunted within the boundaries of private property or upon private water.
Under current law, an aerial hunting company may obtain a permit from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to use an aircraft to manage wildlife or exotic animals. The permit to aerial hunt is specific to nuisance animals such as feral hogs, bobcats, coyotes, and exotics and can only be used for management purposes, not for sport. The fee for this type of permit is $210 per year. In turn, the aerial hunting company contracts with landowners, who file an authorization to manage exotic animals by aircraft with TPWD.
This permit is allowed under federal law, which provides that no person may hunt or harass any animal or bird from an aircraft unless they have a state permit. In addition, a landowner authorization must be signed by the landowner and the aerial permittee, and the aerial permittee must report
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the management activity to the United States Fish and Wildlife Department annually.
DIGEST:
CSHB 716 would prohibit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission from adopting a proclamation or regulation that would ban a landowner from acting as a contractor or participating as a hunter or observer in a helicopter hunt for depredating feral hogs or coyotes.
The bill also would require the commission to amend its rules to comply with the legislation as soon as practical after CSHB 716 took effect on September 1, 2011.
SUPPORTERS
SAY:
CSHB 716 would allow a landowner to sell seats on a helicopter hunt for feral hogs or coyotes. Currently, a landowner can pay a company to hunt the hogs, but this can be costly for the landowner. The bill would allow landowners to defray the costs of controlling these nuisance animals and to help address the feral hog problem during a state budget crisis, when TPWD might be forced to limit its operations.
It is estimated that 1.5 million feral hogs are in Texas. Feral hogs are a prolific species that may have two litters per year, with up to 12 piglets in a litter. The problem of feral hogs has spread from rural areas to the suburbs and highways. Feral hogs devastate agriculture by trampling crops, tearing down fences, spreading diseases to livestock, and eating seeds and livestock feed. Direct damage from feral hogs has been estimated at $400 million annually. Sympathy for feral hogs is misplaced, because they are omnivores that prey on lambs, kid goats, newborn fawns, ground nesting birds, and endangered sea turtles.
The bill would pose no safety concerns because numerous state and federal regulations govern the safe operation of all aircraft and TPWD regulations ensure the proper conduct of aerial hunts. The helicopter companies and their pilots have additional financial and personal safety incentives to screen those selected to be gunners on a hunt. Interested participants must be able to demonstrate that they have the expertise to handle weaponry properly. Those posing any danger to the pilot or the helicopter would be grounded promptly.
According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, more than 75 percent of the state has suitable terrain and vegetative cover for aerial gunning operations. Aerial hunting remains the most effective method to control
HB 716
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populations of feral hogs and coyotes, which move quickly and cannot be trapped easily. While TPWD is working on a promising program to poison feral hogs, budget limitations could stall that effort.
Concerns about the rotting carcasses of feral hogs killed by aerial hunts are unfounded. While efforts to remove the carcasses can be made, it remains best practice to leave feral hogs where they fall. Diseases from wild hogs do not pose a significant threat to humans, even though their maladies can be passed easily to livestock and wildlife.
TPWD helped revise CSHB 716 to ensure that the change would not legalize ―sport hunting‖ and would meet the United States Fish and Wildlife Department standards. In addition, lawmakers could amend the bill to repeal the sections of the Texas Administrative Code that punish anyone ―who pays, barters, or exchanges anything of value to participate as a gunner or observer‖ and prohibit the use of an aerial hunt permit for sport hunting. Any ambiguity could be addressed further in the rulemaking process by the Parks and Wildlife Commission. The commission is well aware of the need for effective control of nuisance species.
OPPONENTS
SAY:
Shooting guns from helicopters to hunt feral hogs would pose serious safety risks. Low-flying helicopters can encounter wind shears, power lines, trees, or other land formations while pursuing feral hogs, leading to possible air crashes. Pursuit with low-flying aircraft is inherently cruel and could lead to misplaced shots, wounded animals, and animals left to suffer and die under unacceptable conditions. A moving helicopter provides an unstable aiming platform. Since it is difficult to aim precisely and kill a running feral hog, the rate of wounded and crippled animals is likely to be significant, and wounded animals could cause even more damage. Furthermore, feral hogs tend to occupy low-lying areas and depressions where brush is dense, presenting a difficult target for aerial shooting.
Aside from the safety risks, hunting feral hogs from a helicopter would be a nuisance to nearby residential areas due to the noise from helicopters and gunfire. The practice also could raise issues with carcass removal. Some hogs weigh hundreds of pounds, making it difficult to dispose properly of the carcass. Since the meat cannot be used, the hunter does not have much incentive to retrieve the carcass. If the carcass is not handled properly, health and safety issues could arise, particularly if a carcass was left to decompose near a water source, causing contamination. Since the hunting typically occurs on private property, there are no clear regulations.
HB 716
House Research Organization
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Operating and maintaining a helicopter is expensive, so it is possible that this bill would not produce the financial bonanzas for landowners that many have predicted. Nonetheless, hunting from helicopters is an inhumane solution to the problem of feral hogs. Killing even feral hogs or coyotes from a helicopter should not be considered a sport, and selling seats on the craft would further blur the distinction between sport and slaughter.
OTHER
OPPONENTS
SAY:
As drafted, CSHB 716 would walk a very narrow line between predator management and sport hunting and may not meet the U.S. Fish and Wildlife standards. In addition, the bill would not address the sections of the Texas Administrative Code that restrict sport hunting.
The provision allowing the sale of seats to hunt coyotes should be removed. State law already allows these animals to be hunted from the air, but there is no evidence that coyotes create the same level of destruction to crops and land as do feral hogs.
NOTES:
The author is expected to offer a floor amendment that would amend the Texas Administrative Code provisions prohibiting the exchange of money or other valuable items to be a gunner or observer and to use an aerial permit for sports hunting.
The committee substitute differs from the original version of the bill by allowing landowners to contract with hunters to hunt coyotes as well as feral hogs from helicopters.
During the 2009 regular session, the House by 125-12 passed HB 836 by S. Miller, which would have allowed those with a proper permit to participate in helicopter hunts for feral hogs. The bill died in the Senate Natural Resources Committee after being re-referred from the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.