Indiana - Vote NO on HB 1468

Here are two sample letters for you to adjust and send to the Indiana House of Representatives:


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The Honorable Representatives of the Indiana House Of Representatives

Currently this bill is flying through your legislative house at the speed of light. This bill will destroy the small dog breeder with devastating results to Indiana economy.

Further, the first part of this bill is attached to SEX OFFENDER PAROLE legislation!

ARE DOG BREEDERS THE EQUIVALENT OF SEX OFFENDERS IN YOUR STATE? IF we are,
I can guarantee, every dog breeder that I know will stop putting any money into the state of Indiana. And if you don't think we are a force, the Indianapolis mega show held this last weekend brought in over $1 MILLION DOLLARS into the ECONOMY in one weekend.

This travesty has to STOP. Vote NO on this bill and separate dog breeders from sex offenders.

Your Signature Here

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The Honorable Representatives of the Indiana House Of Representatives

This email is to voice my opposition to Indiana HB 1468 to control commercial dog breeders. This bill will stop all dog breeding in the state of Indiana including the responsible dog breeders whether they own large numbers of dogs or even 2. Consequently, it will stop all dog events that occur within the state and thus stop valuable revenue from being injected into our staggering US economy and Indiana's economy.

AKC statistics indicate the following amounts of money are taken into the surrounding community per size of show dog entries in one weekend:

Less than 1,000 entries bring in $319,200; 1,000 to 2500 entries bring in $588,000; greater than 2500 entries bring in $1,075,200.

One weekend of conformation shows will bring in between $300,000 to $1 million to the local economy. The AKC All Breed clubs alone will hold approximately 144 shows throughout this next calendar year in Indiana. The following numbers are the scheduled AKC events that have or will take place in Indiana for the 2009 calendar year:

61 conformation
1 tracking
18 field trials
37 obedience
10 hunting trials
14 herding events
71 coon hounds
33 agility
35 rally trials

The show in Indianapolis was just held this past weekend from February 11 through February 15. The number of dogs entered at these shows was 87 on Thursday (two specialty shows for 2 specific breeds), 1443 on Friday, 2525 on Saturday, and 2430 on Sunday. During the 4-day show, 156 different breeds were represented. All of the owner/breeders stayed in motels and hotels in the Indianapolis area for a minimum of at 2 nights and many for 4. They ate out for meals and had to buy gas to leave to go home. Plus any other number of expenditures that you would occur on a mini-vacation. Thus OVER $1 Million was put into the economy of Indianapolis over this one weekend.

Does Indiana want to turn down this possible revenue that would no longer come to their state if these Clubs and AKC determine Indiana to be unfriendly towards breeders? Indiana is also well known for the sporting gun dog trials. United Kennel Club (UKC) is another large registry with many licensed organizations holding different types of participation events with dogs. Would Indiana be willing to give up this revenue from these sources also?

Thank you for reading this and considering making an opposing vote to HB1468.

Your Signature Here

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Here are the folks for you to contact:

Members of the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee:

To e-mail the committee members, click here and select their name from the list.

Representative Matt Pierce, Chair
Phone: (317) 232-9600
Toll Free: (800) 382-9842

Representative Nancy Dembowski, Vice-Chair
Phone: (317) 232-9600
Toll Free: (800) 382-9842

Representative Jacqueline Clements
Phone: (800) 382-9841

Representative Ryan Dvorak
Phone: (317) 232-9600
Toll Free: (800) 382-9842

Representative Ralph Foley
Phone: (800) 382-9841

Representative Eric Koch
Phone: (800) 382-9841

Representative Linda Lawson
Phone: (317) 232-9600
Toll Free: (800) 382-9842

Representative Gregory Porter
Phone: (317) 232-9600
Toll Free: (800) 382-9842

Representative Vernon Smith
Phone: (317) 232-9600
Toll Free: (800) 382-9842

Representative Greg Steuerwald
Phone: (800) 382-9841

Representative Vern Tincher
Phone: (317) 232-9600
Toll Free: (800) 382-9842

Representative Randolph Truitt
Phone: (800) 382-9841