Wednesday, June 29, 2011

How you can help rescues in Connecticut

The Connecticut legislature has passed a bill which effectively ends the ability of legitimate rescues to offer dogs for adoption in the state of Connecticut by making the cost so prohibitive that adoption is not feasible for the vast majority of adopters. You can read up on it here.  The law was passed and is awaiting the signature of Governor Malloy. Here's how you can help:

Call Governor Malloy's office and tell him to veto Substitute House Bill 5368, File 850. Please be respectful and courteous when you call and tell them this bill will not help Connecticut animals or Connecticut citizens. 

Governor Malloy's office number is  (860) 566-4840 

You can also send Governor Malloy an email here: http://www.ct.gov/malloy/cwp/view.asp?a=3998&q=479082

A sample email might read as follows:

Dear Governor Malloy,

Recently, the Connecticut legislature passed a bill which effectively ends the ability of legitimate rescues to offer dogs for adoption in the state of Connecticut by making the cost so prohibitive that adoption is not feasible for the vast majority of adopters. This bill, substitute house bill 5368, File No. 850, is awaiting your signature and I urge you to veto the bill. While well-intended, this bill will not put a stop to the flow of unregistered, ill animals being spirited into the state. What it will do is put legitimate rescues who bring dogs to the State out of commission by making the cost of an adoption over $600 as the result of the requirements in this bill. Legitimate rescue supports responsible and ethical practices and although I appreciate the position of the state, this law will only drive the bad rescues even further underground. Moreover, the intent to promote the adoption of Connecticut dogs is laudable, but the reality is, there aren't a lot of dogs in shelters in Connecticut and in fact, a survey of all shelter dogs on Petfinder as of June 27 showed less than 500 adoptable dogs, of which more than 60% were bully breeds. There's nothing wrong with a bully breed dog as a pet, but not everyone wants or is capable of managing a bully breed dog and rescue exists to provide people with an adoption option. I support responsible rescue and I want to see Connecticut come to the table with rescues to craft a law that balances the interests of all parties. I urge you to veto this bill.

Pass the word to your friends, family and those you know who might be interested. We can make a difference.


12 comments:

  1. When I read this bill I was so sad and shocked all at the same time. I am the president of NEABR and us volunteers work so tirelessly to save ALL dogs, both in CT and out of CT. When we save a dog out of state, we first get it to a foster home, make sure that the dog gets all shots and appropriate tests that deem them a healthy dog, and spay or neuter them. We then hold the dog for a MINIMUM of 2 weeks prior to transport by Alpha Dog Transport CO, who also requires a 2-week minimum quarantine prior to transport, to make sure the dogs do not break with parvo, or other life-threatening diseases. Our adoption fee is normally $300. The $300 pays for all shots, worming, heart-worm tests, spay/neuter, and any other treatments as well as food the dog will require to deem he/she healthy and ready for adoption. Each and every dog is seen by a veterinarian and issued an interstate Health Certificate to travel. If a dog tests positive for Heart worms they are treated for that too. THAT is what All legitimate rescues do. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! Consider the consequences of this new bill. Pet stores selling puppies who's parents, (Parents who us good rescues work tirelessly to save and rehabilitate and find wonderful homes for when they are tossed aside by millers and other breeders) will keep on selling their puppies!! All the while puppy millers and back yard breeders who sell to these pet stores will stay in business and actually make out financially MUCH better now that CT has done this to their rescue community.
    The Connecticut legislature has passed a bill which effectively ends the ability of legitimate rescues like NEABR to offer dogs for adoption in the state of Connecticut by making the cost so prohibitive that adoption is not feasible for the vast majority of adopters, therefore increasing pet store shopping and more suffering for the poor parents of these puppies!
    Dogs in shelters (no matter where the shelter is located) deserve a life and a chance of a happy life! PLEASE do not stand by and let these animals die needlessly!
    Being regulated is fair, but regulated to the point of shutting down rescue efforts is not at all fair to us volunteers or to the animals we won’t be able to help.
    Kelly O'Brien
    President of New England All Breed Rescue

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  2. Why would you make it impossible to adopt a orphan/abused/rescued dog?

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  3. I live in California and had this brought to my attention by Slash (the guitarist) via facebook. I have re-posted it and family across the globe are emailing as we speak. Just wanted you all to know that the word is getting out there.

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  4. same here, i saw on slash's site via facebook that this was happening. sent my email to the Governor and i hope he doesnt let this bill pass. thats just crazy for CT to consider that this will help the state. no what it will do is make people angry. i dont thing CT needs a riot on their hands :[ just saying :[
    also i posted this on my facebook to all my friends. i really hope this never passes...

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  5. I got my dog from a rescue kennel here in England and. like others, saw this posted on Slash's facebook page. I have just emailed the Governor, couldn't not really!

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  6. We received our rescue Weimaraner from a rescue that sent him via road trip to the Northeast from Arkansas. He was due to be gassed. He is 8 years od, is a fantastic, beautiful, healthy dog, and was given up because his owners moved. Thank God for caring people down South, who are doing a great job relocating unwanted dogs. The "rescue" dogs probably get better homes and are more carefully prepared for placement than many "purebred" dogs from breeders. I have seen both sides, and rescue people are the best!

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  7. Each dog shipped into Connecticut means a dog already here in Connecticut was not adopted that day. Each dog shipped out of another state to Connecticut opens a cage space in that state to be again filled with a dog produced on an irresponsible persons property. Little to nothing is done in origin states to stop the uncontrolled production of puppies, so the process continues unabated. Rescue is a great, humane, but short term measure. It is not a long term solution. That solution must occur within each of the states of origin. If fewer excess dogs are born into such circumstances, the need for so much interstate transport will diminish one day. Hopefully that's what we all want: less dogs born to homelessness and less need for the good work many of you do.

    As far as why the regulations came about, its because pet adopters were complaining, and the involved rescues were not listening. Cast not the first stone.....

    It saddens me that there has been hysteria and mistrust created about the control of rescue. It is unfortunate some involved have made that control necessary. Every dog coming here must arrive healthy and stay healthy. The rescue organizations must be responsible when they don't.

    Many of the posts talk about how the regulatory scheme will impeded them, is intended to harm dogs or decrease rescue. Some choose to see it that way. I cannot convince you otherwise, fine.
    Surely you acknowledge just how big interstate rescue has become and how many people are involved and affected. It is many more than are involved in breeding, pet stores and local rescue.
    No one is overseeing the process and the chance to police your own has passed. From the moment mass importation began using commercial drivers and commuter lots, the image of the small operator fighting the good fight for one or a few dogs evaporated. A lot of animals are moving weekly and a lot of money is changing hands, donated, spent however you look at it. With an enterprise that big, it was inevitable it would draw scrutiny.

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  8. No doubt there is absence of 'appropriate' regualtions:
    Rescue adoption fees are to offset incurred expenses where responsible rescuers perform & passes on in the adoption fee.
    -Veternarian examinations, vaccinations & alter
    -Transportation fees where applicable
    -Minimum 2 wk foster (away from shelter exposure) prior to adoption and/or transport for adoption
    Adoption fees are generally 200. - 400. which is minimal compared to purchasing a pet & responsibly taking your new pet to a Vet where fees to examine, vaccinate & alter surely exceeds a normal Rescue adoption fee.
    Prohibitive is not the adoption fee..whereas there are homes/families that have been evaluated as inappropriate for pet ownership to prevent an unsuccessful adoption for that family & rehoming of a rescue animal.
    The bill appears to not address the real issues....why throw the baby out with the bath water? Clearly a governing office could more thoroughly research as education is required to make informed intelligent decisions. Rescue has indeed grown for a population of moral upstanding citizens stepping up to make a differnce - The public has never been more aware of the crisis of animal overpopulation in need, necglected & dying.
    Shouldn't governing support the people, it's future by considering regulations that can improve Rescue & how it impacts your constiguents?

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  9. As a CT resident and someone who is involved in rescue I think that this is ridiculous. Ol' Doc says it prevents a dog from beingf adopted in CT...well I tried to adopt a dog in CT and THERE WERE NO DOGS AT MY LOCAL SHELTER! Also, many of the dogs ending up in CT shelters are not breeds that are appropriate for my family.

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  10. hate to say it .. I just called Gov. Malloy's office and spoke to Aaron. I could tell he didn't write anything down, name, town, or the bill. I have sent an email with some edits to make it look unique. We know Dannel Malloy is a responsible dog owner having sited his own hesitation on the plastic grocery bag tax because he uses them to "pick up" with after his dog. Anyone know if he dogs are rescues?

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  11. This is purely a play to the special interest group of VETS. I think Ol'Doc must be one of them. A legitimate out of state volunteer rescue, even though they're registered with the IRS as a 501C3 charity will now be required to pay "fees" to the state and have their dogs seen by CT Vets even though they were previously seen by licensed vets in other states. Make no mistake about it, this is not about overpopulation, or opening up cages in CT, it's about special interests like Pet Stores who sell puppy mill dogs, and Vets, who are looking to line their pockets. This is an ill-conceived law promulgated by special interests and stupid legislators. I doubt that anything will be done about it since legislators think they rule rather than serve. The net result will be that thousands of deserving dogs will die. It doesn't matter one bit whether they are CT dogs or not, they deserve to live and they won't.

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