Louisville Kennel Club Lawsuit Decided!

This past Friday the federal judge finally issued his decision in the case of Louisville Kennel Club, et al vs. Metro Government. The final ruling ran to over 20 pages and will have sweeping impact on a national level as well as in Louisville.

Judge Simpson found that the determination between altered and unaltered dogs is without merit and therefore the requirement of inspection of enclosures for unaltered dogs by Animal Control is unconstitutional.

He additionally found that dogs are personal property [under the 14th Amendment to the US Constititution], and the requirement of a seizure bond (where you must post a bond upon a showing of probable cause and if you cannot post the bond your animals become the property of the state, city etc.)is unconstitutional and a finding of guilt must occur before a court can take your property.

the Court reasoned that no ordinance provision nullifies a warrant requirement and a warrant must be obtained prior to seizure.

Chardonnay - 10 weeks

Here's our puppy, Chardonnay, at 10 weeks old. As a singleton, she's totally spoiled and working on training US.

AVMA Response to HSUS Blog

Ron DeHaven, DVM, AVMA’S CEO said: “Once again, Mr. Pacelle has resorted to misleading statements. His attempt to paint the AVMA and veterinarians in a negative light is little more than an attempt to raise more money for his organization. Veterinarians choose their careers because they care about animals. At the same time, veterinarians understand that, when it comes to animal welfare, a knee-jerk response based solely on emotion, not science, might not be in the best interest of animals.

"For example, the AVMA's stance against a ban on horse processing in the United States was not taken because we are ‘pro-slaughter,’ but because we know there is a large population of unwanted horses in this country, and feared what would happen if those horses couldn't be humanely euthanized in a regulated environment. Unfortunately, our fears have come true and have been made worse by the current economic climate. Large numbers of horses are being abandoned and left to starve across the country. Mr. Pacelle's stance has only increased the suffering of horses in the United States.

"Mr. Pacelle is ignoring the legitimate concerns of animal welfare scientists and veterinarians, and misleading the American public to further his organization's agenda,” continued DeHaven. “If he truly cared about the welfare of animals, he would not be so quick to criticize and minimize the input of veterinary experts." Well said!

Obviously, HSUS is frustrated that they are not controlling AVMA, so therefore they are slinging as much mud as they can, and using this opportunity to bolster their Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association and other groups.

Pacelle finished his blog with, “We’d like some day to stand shoulder to shoulder with the AVMA on matters relating to the defense of animals. But too often, we stand on opposite sides of the major policy debates for animal welfare in America.” So in other words, if AVMA toes the line with HSUS’s “vast” food-animal welfare knowledge, they’ll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them, but until then, HSUS will try to drag AVMA – and any other food animal veterinary organizations -- down by any means possible. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.

Geni Wren, Editor

Bovine Veterinarian

LA becomes Slaughterhouse after mandaory spay/neuter passed

All of the statistics quoted below come from California Department of Public Health.

* 96,630 animals were admitted to the Los Angeles County sheltering system in 2008, which is a 55,178 increase from 2007. This is a 133-percent increase in the year after a spay/neuter mandate was passed into law.

* If compared to the state, Los Angeles County alone exceeded the entire statewide increase in shelter admissions, and is 11 times higher than the state average.

* In 2008, the entire state of California saw a 16.4-percent increase in euthanasia, to 153,793 (an increase of 21,677).

*HOWEVER, ALMOST ALL OF THE ENTIRE STATEWIDE INCREASE IN SHELTER EUTHANAIS IN CALIFORNIA CAME FROM LOS ANGELES COUNTY ALONE IN THE YEAR FOLLOWING MANDATORY SPAY/NEUTER! The Los Angeles County shelter system euthanasia rate rose by an incredible 178-percent in the year following the ordinance. In 2007, 12,118 dogs had to be killed in the county. In 2008, this soared to 33,601 dogs.

* The official state data shows that following the spay/neuter ordinance, LA County experienced a 107-percent increase in animal control captures of abandoned dogs, a 163-percent increase in owner surrenders by people who cannot afford to keep their pets and comply with the law, and a 153-percent increase in abandoned dogs brought to the shelters by good Samaritans.

If you think that statistics like these are unique to LA County, here's a link to an article about Dallas' experience with mandatory spay/neuter.

http://www.thedogplace.org/PROJECTS/State/0907-Spay-Neuter-Dallas_Yates.asp

And of course you can read about Santa Cruz's "success" in the blog below this one.

Santa Cruz County Proves Mandatory Spay/Neuter Doesn't Work

* Santa Cruz County, California passed mandatory spay/neuter in 1995 and is often held up as a model of how that "works." So, let's take a look at how it actually works and compare Santa Cruz with other Counties that don't have mandatory spay/neuter.

* Santa Cruz County’s euthanasia rates are higher than those in nearby counties such as Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin — none of which have mandatory spay/neuter laws.

* Santa Cruz County’s euthanasia rates are 44% higher than San Diego County’s, which does not have mandatory spay/neuter.

* Santa Cruz County’s euthanasia rates are more than 4 times higher than Nevada County’s, which does not have mandatory spay/neuter.

* Santa Cruz County’s euthanasia rates are 16 times higher than Calgary’s, the best animal control program in North America, where they also do not have mandatory spay/neuter.

In addition to soaring euthanasia rates, costs for animal control in Santa Clara have also soared. Costs for Santa Cruz County as a whole have doubled - from approximately $650,000 a year to over $1,300,000. For example, the city of Watson's contribution to the Santa Cruz County Animal Services Authority has spiked $100,000 to more than $490,000.

In Capitola, the decision to drop out of the agency June 30, the end of the fiscal year, was based on the bottom line, said City Manager Richard Hill. That city has seen its costs triple in recent years. Capitola was expected to pay in excess of $70,000 in the coming year. Since the agency serves little more than 100 animals from Capitola each year, the price tag was too high, he said.

Even this data does not seem to have proved to Californians and others that mandatory spay/neuter laws do not work. For example, California's SB250 threatens to take this law statewide. Can California afford the increased costs?

Increased costs are not the only impact the passage of SB250 will have on California. Decreased revenue is another. Each year over 1100 AKC events are held in that state with each bringing $300,000 to $1,000,000 into the local economy coffers. How many of these events will be eliminated once SB250 passes? Can Californians afford to lose this revenue?

Istari Blanc De Blanc

Athena had her baby by C-section last week. We had one girl puppy. It was touch and go for a few days as we tube fed her. But, now she's out of the woods & demanding mom's attention 24/7. We've named this baby after our favorite sparkling wine _ Blanc De Blanc. Her call name is Chardonnay.

Is HSUS fulfilling its non-profit charter?

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is recognized as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization by the Internal Revenue Service. But, is the HSUS in compliance with requirements to maintain its 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt status? According to Cheryl McAuliffe, Georgia Director for the HSUS, activist and lobbying efforts form the bulk of her activities. According to IRS 501 (c) 3 regulations:

“In general, no organization may qualify for section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying ). A 501(c)(3) organization may engage in some lobbying, but too much lobbying activity risks loss of tax-exempt status. An organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation.”

The Humane Society of the Unites States dedicates a vast amount of resources toward introducing and influencing legislation. You only need to look at its website tracking to see HSUS legislative efforts at the state and federal levels as well as through ballot initiatives.

Only 4% percentage of donations made to the Humane Society of the United States are granted to local shelters and Humane Societies. In 2007, less than 6 million dollars were handed out as US grants out of the 152 million taken in. In addition, large percentage of the grants were handed out to organizations that did not provide direct care to animals in need.

So, if the HSUS is not fulfilling its 501(c)3 non-profit charter, then all of its income should be taxable. And, the US and state governments are losing out on millions of dollars of badly needed revenue.

We urge our readers to take the following actions:

1. Cease donating any money to HSUS. Instead, send your donations to your local animal shelter.

2. Contact your state senators and representatives asking for an investigation into the HSUS policies and practices as they relate to their non-profit status. Let them know that there may be monies due the state if they are not following the non-profit guidelines.

3. Contact your local news organizations asking for a similar investigation.

4. And most importantly, contact the Internal Revenue Service at Internal Revenue Service
Criminal Investigations
Fresno, CA 93888