HB 6007 and HB 6008 Increase Penalty for Torture or Killing an Animal
Introduced by Representative David Law, House Bills 6007 and 6008 amend sentencing guidelines for individuals convicted of torturing, poisoning or otherwise unlawfully killing an animal. The current sentence of 4 years is raised to 8 years.
Contacts:
Representative David Law to thank him for sponsoring this legislation.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee
SB 1258 SB 1259 Amendment to the Dangerous Dog Law
Sponsored by Senator Valde Garcia, Senate Bill 1258 amends the “Dangerous Dog Law”. Creates a new 4 year maximum felony for second offense of a dangerous dog biting a human without causing serious injury or allowing a dangerous dog to run at large.
Contacts:
Senator Valde Garcia the sponsor of the legislation
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee
SB 1260 Amend Dog Bite Law (Tort)
Amends current law to provide tort liability for a dog owner who’s dog bites another dog. The owner will be liable for veterinary expenses for any companion animal bitten, as long as the animal was lawfully on either public property or the dog owner’s property.
Contacts:
Senator Valde Garcia the sponsor of the legislation
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Your State Senator
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HB 5946 Amendment to Animal Cruelty Laws
Representative Rebekah Warren introduced an overhaul of animal cruelty laws. The amendments accomplish the following:
Contacts:
Members of the House Judiciary Committee
Your State Representative
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HB 5961 Prohibit Releasing or Abandoning Exotic Animals
Introduced by Representative Steil, this amendment would make releasing or abandoning an exotic animal a misdemeanor.
Contacts:
Members of the House Agriculture Committee
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Labeling Cloned Milk
House Bill 5614 provides that milk from cloned goats, pigs and cattle shall be labeled as cloned.
This legislation will allow Michigan consumers to choose whether to drink milk from cloned animals. The federal government has not completed its regulations regarding cloned food and milk, however, it is believed that the regulators are going to side with the industry and not require labeling. The industry fears that consumers will not purchase food and milk from cloned animals.
Contact your state representative and let him/her know that you support HB 5614.
Labeling Cloned Meat
House Bill 5611 states: “If otherwise allowed by law, cloned meat may be sold if clearly labeled as cloned meat.”
It's anticipated that cloning will soon be an accepted practice in the farming industry. Cloned animals will be used as breeding stock for new generations of food animals, soon to be populating factory farms. The FDA claims cloned animals pose no health risks to humans. It's currently the position of meat industry that cloned not appear on labels. The USDA and FDA, being captured by the meat industry, are expected to prohibit any requirement that cloning be noted on labeling.
This Michigan legislation, if passed, would allow consumers to make an informed choice by requiring that cloned meat sold in Michigan be labeled CLONED.
Contact your representative and let him/her know that you support this legislation.
Who Gets Custody of the Companion Animals in a Divorce?
Representative Michael Sak, (D) introduced HB 5598 which attempts to provide for companion animals in divorce. This legislation would:
Prevent awarding custody of a companion animal to a party who is the subject of an outstanding personal protection order.
Require the judge to determine custody of companion animals in all divorces. The judge could award custody to one of the divorcing parties or demand the animal be surrendered to the local humane society or animal shelter.
While the courts should ensure that companion animals are provided for in cases of divorce, this legislation should not be passed in its present form. Standards of review are not delineated, leaving a family and their animals in jeopardy if they encounter an intemperate judge. There must be evidence of neglect or abuse that triggers mandatory relinquishment to a shelter. This legislation should also provide that the local humane society and animal shelters “euthanasia” numbers be presented to all circuit court judges in the county. This would allow a judge to make an informed decision about where he/she was sending a family companion.
Contact the members of the House Judiciary Committee and request that they either vote against House Bill 5598 or provide the changes necessary to protect both humans and animals.
Steel Jaw Trap Ban
One of the cruelest hunting devices is the steel jaw trap. These traps are designed to grab an animal's leg. Once trapped, the animal is destined to suffer for hours, waiting for the trapper to check his traps. Of course, the trapper is not the animal's savior, but instead, is the executioner. Such horrendous pain and suffering endured for the almighty dollar and personal vanity. HB4497 is pending in the Michigan House of Representatives and it would ban the use of leg hold traps in
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Dog Bite Reporting _______________________________________________________________________ Stop Shelters from Selling to Research Representative Coleman Young Jr sponsored HB 5263 will prohibit shelters from selling animals to research dealers or institutions. Each year thousands of For more information about pets being sold to research visit: Michigan Animals Blog Factory Farm Moratorium Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are large scale feed lots. Thousands and thousands of animals are confined in small quarters. Often there isn't even room for an animal to turn around. The animals suffer from stress and dismay, become ill with viruses and infected with bacteria. CAFOs are nothing more than industrialized torture for the confined animals. Humans living near CAFOs do not fare much better. CAFOs produce thousands of gallons of liquid waste and thousands of pounds of manure. Neighbors from miles away can smell the operation. The waste not only pollutes the air, but it also contaminates the water. Run-off enters streams, rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Animal cruelty and environmental devastation led Michigan Representative Raymond Bashram and Michigan State Senator Mark Meadows to sponsor HB 4467 and SB 444 which establish a 5 year moratorium during which no new CAFOs will be opened in the State of Contact your Michigan State Senator and Michigan Representative and let them know you support the CAFO moratorium. Farm Sanctuary and www.factoryfarming.com are great resources about factory farming.
HB 4065 passed by the Michigan House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, will require dog owners provide basic veterinary information if their dog bites someone. Additionally, the pet owner would be required to provide emergency assistance to a bite victim. Contact your Michigan Senator and ask her to support HB 4065.
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SB 1077 – Allows Gray Wolf to be Killed if Attacking Dog
SB 1077 would allow the “owner” of a dog being attacked or bitten by a gray wolf to capture or kill the gray wolf. The wolf must be in the act of attacking the dog.
HB 5686 Allows Gray Wolf to be Killed if Attacking Livestock
A wolf in the act of attacking or biting livestock could be killed or captured according to this legislation.
SB 626 Prohibit Dog Racing
Senator Cropsey introduced this measure to prevent dog racing from entering the state of Michigan. SB 626 bans dog racing tracks, and simulcasting of dog races anywhere in the state of Michigan.
Fois Gras is a fancy French name for duck liver pate. Fois Gras is made from the torture and suffering of ducks. HB 4681 would end the horrid practice of force feeding ducks in order to get a fatty liver for fois gras. To get that fatty liver, ducklings are removed from their families when they are very young. They are placed into dark overcrowded sheds where there is little room to move and no escape. A few times a day a farm worker enters the shed and places a metal tube down the duckling's throat forcing a corn mixture down the duckling's throat. The poor creature is fed many times what he would choose to eat on his own. Force feeding causes the duckling to grow rapidly huge. Most importantly for the profiteers, the duckling's liver becomes diseased and fatty, the liver of choice for fois gras.
HB 4681 would criminalize force feeding birds by making it a misdemeanor to force feed a bird and just as important it would become a misdemeanor to trade in force fed birds.
HB 4139 Sexual Offenders Registration Act, Amendment
This legislation will amend the sexual offenders registration act to include sexual offenses against animals. In other words, if someone is convicted of sexually abusing an animal, they would be forced to register as a sex offender so the public could be alerted to their presence in their neighborhoods.
Pending Federal Legislation
Companion Animals
The Pet and Human Food Safety Act Companion Animals The Pet and Human Food Safety Act In 2007, companion animals began to die. It was discovered the food or additives manufactured in Since March, 2007 we've learned just how inept the regulators are, and how lax the regulations are. The Pet and Human Food Safety Act passed the United States Senate, with a unanimous vote. It is awaiting action in the House of Representatives. The Pet and Human Food Safety Act will establish manufacturing and processing ingredient standards; require inspections of pet food plants (both at home and abroad); an early warning system to identify contamination more quickly and empower the FDA to issue mandatory recalls of contaminated pet food. Contact your Representative and ask him/her to support the Pet and Human Food Safety Act. ________________________________________________________________________ Farm Animal CAFO Tax Credit Act, Senate Bill 285 Senator Chuck Hagel is doing the work of his lobbyist pals. In response to relatively minor Environmental Protection Agency regulations intended to reduce the environmental devastation caused by factory farms (CAFOs), the CAFOs best pal, Senator Chuck Hagel introduced legislation to give the CAFOs a tax credit. Factory farms or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations are hideous examples of the worst of American business. Thousands of animals are confined in excruciatingly small spaces, many cannot even turn around. The animals suffer horribly. Neighboring humans suffer also. Thousands and thousands of animals mean thousands and thousands gallons of liquid waste and thousands and thousands of pounds of manure. Runoff from CAFOs contaminate rivers, streams, ponds, lakes and aquifers with bacterial and organic pathogens. Noxious fumes and millions of flies contaminate the air. The industry that harms animals and humans alike seems to be entitled to protections given to no other American business. Stop the special tax credits Senator Hagel is trying to give CAFOs by contacting your United States Senator and asking them to vote against the CAFO Tax Credit Act, S. 385. ________________________________________________________________________ Downed Animal Protection and Food Safety Act (H.R. 661, S. 394) Specifically the Downed Animal Protection and Food Safety Act would require a food animal (cows, goats, horses, sheep, mules and swine) be humanely euthanized if the animal is downed. Also, conscious downed animals would not be moved and would be humanely euthanized. This is important legislation that lessens animal suffering and protects the human food supply. Please contact your Representatives and Senators and ask them to support this important legislation. For more information visit: Farm Sanctuary; www.nodowners.org Cloned Animals Labeling Act (H.R. 1396, S. 536) Americans do not want to eat cloned food, but lobbyists have another idea, which should make all of you worry. The federal government is very close to allowing the sale of cloned beef for human consumption. Cloning is not only morally controversial, but also is scientifically unproven. Worse, there are many “mistakes” born of the cloning process. The mistakes are born deformed or maimed, suffering until they are euthanized. The Cloned Animals Labeling Act would prevent cloned animals from receiving an “organic” label under federal law. Contact your Congressman and Senators and ask them to take a first step towards protecting the public from unproven cloned meat. For more information visit: Farm Sanctuary The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S. 311) In 2005 nearly 100,000 American horses were slaughtered for human consumption in Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses. The number of horses sold to and slaughtered by foreign operations is expected to sky rocket due to the closing of all three American slaughterhouses that sold horse meat for human consumption. Horses transported for slaughter endure horrible suffering. They are packed into overcrowded trailers, standing for hours. When they arrive at the slaughterhouse, they smell the blood and immediately try to flee. They injure themselves in their attempts to get away from the blood and gore. Horses are not always killed with the first device, a captive blot pistol, but instead flounder in agony. Horses deserve better and thankfully, we humans can do much better for our hooved friends. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act will stop transport of horses to foreign slaughterhouses. After committee approval, this Act is awaiting action by the full Senate. It is vital that you contact your Senators and Representative and ask that they support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. For more information visit: Humane Society of the United States Farm Animal Stewardship Protection Act (H.R. 1726) There are limited regulations governing the treatment of animals during transportation to slaughterhouses and slaughter once there. There are no federal regulations guiding farmers about the treatment of animals during their lives. The lack of oversight has led to the proliferation of factory farming practices, where the quality of the animal’s life is not considered. Animals raised for food suffer horrendously during their lives. The “Farm Animal Stewardship Protection Act” would require the USDA purchase food for its school lunch programs only from farms that meet minimum care standards, such as providing enough space for an animal to turn around. Contact your Representative and Senators and ask that they support the Farm Animal Stewardship Protection Act.
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