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2008
Twin Cities Pet Expo
Submitted
by: Rachel Meehan
The
2008 Twin Cities Pet Expo was held on February 16th and 17th at the
Minneapolis Convention Center. As in previous years, the NRC
had a booth there, and as usual it was a huge success! We had
the same corner location as last year, which happens to be a very
good spot with lots of foot traffic. The event was very well
attended by the public. In fact, one of the show officials said
that it was one of the busiest shows he had ever seen!
This
year the NRC added a second booth which was devoted solely to
fighting BSL in MN. The response was excellent. People
heard about us all throughout the expo, and came to find us
specifically to get information and sign our petition. The
petition was a carryover from the one at the NRC specialty, and was
signed by hundreds of people. After the expo, the petition went
to the State Capital, where it was viewed by the house committee
members voting on dangerous dog legislation.
We
did an obedience demo on both days of the expo, which went very
well. There were many awesome, talented dogs to look at.
We also took that opportunity to mention BSL and how horribly it
would affect the beautiful dogs they were watching. Let's just
say, that the information came as a big shock to most of the people
that were there, and it was very influential in having them seek us
out to find out how they could help.
The
expo would not have been nearly so successful without the wonderful
people and dogs who volunteered their time and energy. Thank
you so much to everyone that was there! It should be noted that
we also got help from outside the club. A few other people that
are very dedicated to helping fight BSL, but are not part of NRC,
also volunteered to be at the BSL booth with their dogs. With
everyone working together, we managed to not only fill both booths,
but at times it even felt a little cramped!
If
you happened to miss out on this years expo, don't worry, there are
plenty of upcoming opportunities to show the world our wonderful breed!
Update
on BSL in Minnesota
Submitted
by: Rachel Meehan
On
June 15, 2007 St. Paul Representative John Lesch held a press
conference announcing his intention of proposing a bill (in the 2008
Legislative session) that would outlaw ownership of five so called
"dangerous" dog breeds from the State of Minnesota.
Those five dog breeds include ROTTWEILERS, Pitbulls, Akitas, Chows,
Wolf-Hybrids, and any mix of these breeds. This announcement of
BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) started a firestorm of controversy,
and got many concerned citizens and humane organizations working
together to ensure that this doesn't come to pass.
The
legislative session started on February 12th, 2008. Shortly
thereafter, Representative Michael Paymar introduced bill
HF2906. This bill was written with the help of people from the
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Minnesota Animal
Control Association (MACA). The bill strengthens our current
Dangerous Dog statutes without being breed-specific. It
contains stronger requirements for dogs declared dangerous, and gives
the non-compliant owners of dangerous dogs stricter penalties.
It is a good bill and should be supported by those of us fighting
against BSL.
Bill
HF2906 (Paymar) went before it's first committee (The Public Safety
and Civil Justice Committee) on February 19th. Representative
Lesch was also scheduled to bring forth a "dangerous dog"
related bill that day, but he backed down at the last minute.
Rep. Lesch instead attempted to tack on some breed specific
amendments to the existing Paymar bill. Luckily, the committee
voted Rep. Lesch's amendments down, and they approved the bill
without any breed-specific language added to it.
On
February 27th, bill HF 2906 (Paymar) went before its second
committee hearing, this time with the Local Government and
Metropolitan Affairs Committee. The Bill again passed the
committee without any breed specific language being added to it.
The bill has now been referred to the Public Safety Finance
Committee for its third hearing, but that date has yet to be determined.
After
its hearing at the Public Safety and Finance Committee, bill HF 2906
(Paymar) will head to the House floor for a second reading and
debate, then go back to the House again for a third reading and House
Vote. Breed specific amendments can still be added to that bill
during the committee hearing and the House floor second reading and debate.
In
order for a bill to become a law, it must not only get through the
House, but a companion bill must also go through the Senate.
The companion bill for HF 2906 (Paymar) is SF 2876 (Anderson).
The wording on that bill is exactly the same as the House bill, and
should be equally supported by us.
SF
2876 (Anderson) is scheduled to go to its first Senate hearing with
the Agriculture and Veterans Committee, on March 6th. If the
bill passes that committee, it will then move to it's second reading
and Senate floor debate, then to a third reading and Senate
vote. Just as in the House version, this bill can still have
breed specific amendments added to it both at the committee hearings
and at the second reading and Senate floor debate.
If
that wasn't enough....
Also
on February 19th Representative Dennis Ozment introduced bill HF
3245, which is very similar in nature to the breed specific
amendments proposed by Rep. Lesch. The bill establishes a task
force to deal with dogs declared dangerous, and also calls for the
repealing of current MN SS 347.51 subd.8, which prohibits cities and
counties from enacting BSL. The bill states that a statutory or
home rule charter city, or a county, may recommend to the task force
that specific breeds of dogs be designated as dangerous or
potentially dangerous dogs based solely on the specific breed of the dog.
Fortunately,
that bill was referred to the Public Safety and Civil Justice
Committee (the same committee that HF 2906 had just been through),
and that committee has so far refused to hear it, probably due to its
similarity to the previous dangerous dog bill that they had already
voted on. The bill is still on the table, however, and needs to
be watched closely. The deadline for the committee to act on
that bill is March 14th. If the committee doesn't hear the bill
before the deadline, then it is considered dead for the year.
So,
as you can see, the news is good up to this point. However,
there are still many opportunities for that to change. If you
haven't done so already, please contact your local legislators (both
House and Senate) and let them know that you are against any breed
specific legislation. Also, we ask that you keep up with where
the bills are in committee, and call or email each committee member
that will be hearing it. We want them to know that we support
bill HF 2906 (Paymar) and bill SF 2876 (Anderson) AS THEY ARE
CURRENTLY WRITTEN, without any breed specific amendments added to
them. Let them know that you are AGAINST any repealing of
current MN SS 347.51 subd. 8. It is very important that we do
these things and let them know how we feel. You can find out
information about the bills, and who your legislators are, by going
to: www.house.leg.state.mn.us.
Finally,
don't forget to get your dogs out there and talk to people.
Make sure everyone you talk to knows what is happening and what they
can do to help prevent our beloved animals from being banned or
having unfair regulations placed on them.
The
Legislative session ends on May 19th, so hopefully at that point we
can all breath a sigh of relief (at least until next year!). If
you are interested in getting updates on what is happening with BSL
in MN, feel free to contact myself at rmeehan@eminnetonka.com
or Karla Rud at jandkrud@comcast.net
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