The City Council of Lebanon, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, will vote on September 7, 2010 at 6:00 p.m, about whether to override Mayor Philip Craighead's veto of an ordinance allowing euthanasia of dogs thought to bark too much or which are otherwise a nuisance or deemed "dangerous". 

Update Aug. 27, 2010: The Assembly has concurred in Senate changes to A.B. 2012, and the bill has now been sent to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his signature. 

Update Aug. 26, 2010: The Assembly has approved Senate amendments to A.B. 2743, a bill to prohibit landlords from requiring tenants to devocalize or declaw their animals.

The bill has been sent to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his signature.  

In 1996 Massachusetts voters approved as a ballot initiative the Wildlife Protection Act, ALM GL ch. 131, § 80A. The vote was overwhelming in favor of the new law. According to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, a 2007 survey confirmed 79% of Massachusetts residents approved of the law.

McKenzie's Law, named for the little dog pictured here, who was rescued from a puppy mill, has been introduced as House Bill 570 by Ohio state Rep. Cheryl Grossman.

Update Aug. 23, 2010: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has now signed into law, H.B. 5772, one of the strongest laws in the country requiring pet stores, dog breeders and dealers, cattery operators and rescues to provide information to purchasers or adopters as well as the state about a pet's history.

For more on this new law, read Animal Law Coalition's earlier reports below.     

A law requiring manufacturers and retailers of new clothing to warn of fur content, has passed the California legislature and has been sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for signature.

The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued proposed rules to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, with respect to breeds of dogs used as service animals, DOJ had this to say:   

The U.S. Department of Agriculture working with the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation and New York City Dept. of Parks and Recreation, plans to round up and kill by gassing 170,000 Canada geese found on city property within 5 miles of NYC airports.  

Indeed, 400 Canada geese have already been rounded up from Prospect Park in NYC and gassed.  

On January 1, 2010 a new law went into effect in California  that states that no city or county will be allowed to prohibit a licensed healing arts professional which includes veterinarians from "engaging in any act or performing any procedure that falls within the professionally recognized scope of practice".

Washington, D.C.- Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva and Rep. Nick Rahall today sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar urging an immediate halt to wild horse roundups pending a review of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) practices that have led to dozens of horse deaths over the past year.

Aug. 3, 2010: The Missouri Secretary of State has now certified the "Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act" to appear on the November, 2010 ballot in Missouri! The initiative will be called Proposition B on the ballot.

More than 190,000 signatures were delivered to the Secretary of State. 

This past week Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) wrote, "The actions of the BLM are contrary to The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971's original intent to manage the wild horses and burros in their natural state and to protect them from capture and harassment.

Here's the first thing you can do: 

Remember the BLM Strategy Plan Document issued earlier this summer? Don't forget that your comments are due by September 3.

BLM has finally set up a working email address to accept comments:

Update July 29, 2010: A substitute version of Koda's Law, H.B. 4663, has passed the Michigan House of Representatives Agriculture Committee by a vote of 78-20!    

BLM persists in trying to zero out the West Douglas wild horse herd despite a federal judge's 2009 order that stopped an effort then to roundup and remove all of the wild horses in the herd.

The judge found then that BLM has no authority to remove wild horses and burros that are not determined to be "excess", or an overpopulation.

By a vote of 416-3, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 5566 which would make it a federal crime to sell or distribute, or offer to sell or distribute, animal crush videos for commercial gain in interstate or foreign commerce.

Recently, Russellville, Kentucky police chief Barry Dill announced a plan to round up dogs believed to be "pit bulls" if their owners are not in compliance with licensing, insurance and other requirements.  

CHICAGO, (EWA) - The recent appointment of Dr. Douglas Corey to the top spot of the Washington lobby group, The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC), has made their loudly proclaimed stance of being neutral on the contentious issue of horse slaughter difficult to swallow.

A bill introduced in Congress by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) would call for a program to provide plant-based alternatives to meat and milk in school breakfasts and lunches.

by Michele Hollow, Pet News and Views

Pet News and Views if taking a look at animal legal issues in Ohio. This is the second in a series: 

On Friday, I posted a story about the Coalition to Ban Dog Ohio Auctions. Today, I want to pick on, eh, focus on Ohio's factory farming. Many of you probably have heard about the recent cruelty investigation in an Ohio farm called Conklin Dairy. The videos are quite disturbing.

by Michele Hollow, Pet News and Views

Pet News and Views if taking a look at animal legal issues in Ohio. This is the first in a series: 

Update July 3, 2010: The Michigan House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture has approved H.B. 4263, a ban on the use of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide by anyone to kill dogs and other animals. The vote was 8-2.

Michigan State Rep. Rick Jones  introduced H.B. 4263.

A bill in New York that has passed the Assembly and the Senate, A. 10715, will require shelters that receive state funding to keep track of and make public the following numbers: 

(1) the  number  of  animal  intakes,  including,  but not limited to
animals that were:

Update June 28, 2010: Saying it's not a fair chase, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation  Commission (FWC) has voted unanimously to prohibit the practice of training hunting dogs by placing them in enclosures with foxes and coyotes. 

The practice called live bait dog training has been under scrutiny since investigations revealed the current permitting process simply hasn't worked to stop the brutality to foxes and coyotes.

Update June 24, 2010: With Susie looking on, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue signed Susie's Law yesterday, making penalties for animal abuse stronger. 

In the wake of an investigation by Animals' Angels in November, 2009, European Union officials have announced an investigation into the conditions and treatment of horses at slaughter houses in Mexico specifically the Jerez facility.   

EU's concerns significant

The number of American horses that are slaughtered is driven by a demand in some other countries for horsemeat, where it's usually a pricey delicacy. 

It has come to light that at horse slaughter facilities, Canadian inspectors were actually ordered to stay off the kill floors during slaughter.

Why?

Update June 16, 2010: Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell has now signed H.B. 6 into law! 

The final version of H.B. 6 strengthens penalties for animal cruelty and makes sexual abuse of an animal a crime. 

In a move that astonished and angered pet owners and animal welfare advocates, Macon County, Illinois approved by a unanimous vote a plan to offer to declaw cats and remove the dewclaws of dogs that are adopted from the public shelter. 

The charges will be $125 for cats and $50 for dogs.

The U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee chaired by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.VA.), continues to  investigate the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that has resulted in the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and will also examine the administration's offshore oil and gas policy.

An Ohio bill dubbed the "puppy mill bill", S.B. 95, (attached below for downloading), has passed a Senate Committee by a vote of 7-1 and may be taken up by the full Senate before the summer recess.

The bill, however, is probably more aptly called the "puppy mill support and anti-rescue" bill. 

by Michele C. Hollow, Editor, petnewsandviews.com  

(Below are excerpts from a 3 part series by Pet News and Views on insuring pit bulls. Read the full series at petnewsandviews.com!) 

Update May 17, 2010: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has now signed H.B. 765 into law. 

Update April 30, 2010: The Florida legislature has passed H.B. 765!

While the California legislature considers a bill to create a registry for animal abusers, similar bills have been introduced in other states:

The Tennessee House of Representatives has by a vote of 88-4 concurred in a Senate amendment to H.B. 238. Under the amended version, it is a Class A misdemeanor for a person  convicted of a violent felony to own, possess, or have custody or control of a vicious dog or a potentially vicious dog.

Update May 15, 2010: Missouri's legislative session ended Friday, May 14.

For more on the pro-horse slaughter provisions added in the Missouri House to S.B. 795 in the last weeks of the session and removed just hours before the end of the session by a conference committee....  

Update May 7, 2010: The Connecticut legislature has passed S.B. 274 which improves on the state's current law making it illegal to chain a dog for an "unreasonable period of time." Ct. Stat. 22-350a

Grass roots lobbying for or against legislative proposals is an American tradition. The ready access of voters to legislators has been an integral part of our freedom and political power.

Update May 9, 2010: After a hearing on Friday, May 7, 2010, Judge Stanley Carmical denied the county's motion to dissolve the restraining order, basically extending the restraining order in effect that prevents Robeson County, North Carolina's public shelter from killing animals wanted by adopters.  

A South Carolina bill, S.B. 958, that would place some restrictions on tethering animals, has been paid no attention since it was introduced last January, 2009 by state Sens. Jake Knotts, Tom Davis, and Michael Rose.

Update May 7, 2010: The Louisiana anti-chaining bill, H.B. 219, is scheduled for debate by the House of Representatives on May 10! 

Bucks County, Pennsylvania District Attorney David Heckler refused to prosecute a criminal complaint filed by humane agent Johnna Seeton. Seeton had filed a ciminal complaint alleging violation of the state's animal cruelty law during a live pigeon shoot. 

Pigeons were left to die after they were shot during a live shoot held by the Philadelphia Gun Club.

Update May 7: Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry has now signed into law S.B. 1712, known as the Oklahoma black market breeder bill.  

Update April 29: A last motion to reconsider was defeated, and the Oklahoma black market breeder bill, S.B. 1712, is awaiting signature by  Governor Brad Henry!  

Update April 28, 2010: S.B. 73, which would ban the use of animal gas chambers in Louisiana, is now in the House of Representatives and assigned to the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Massachusetts bills H. 3703 and H. 3704 are likely to mean much more state regulation of private animal shelters and rescues that are designated as 501(c)3 charities by the IRS.  

The Forsyth County Animal Control advisory board will recommend restrictions on tethering dogs. Under the current proposal it would be illegal to tether a dog unless the animal "is in the visual range of an owner/custodian and the owner/custodian is with the dog".

April 14: Ky. Gov. Steve Beshears has signed this bill, H.B. 398, into law. The fast tracked new law creates a board named for the openly pro-horse slaughter organization, Equine Health and Welfare Alliance.

What the Equine Health and Welfare Board will do