Dog Federation of Wisconsin - Breeder Red Alert

This came across my email this morning. You can learn more at their web site

BREEDERS RED ALERT— AUGUST 18, 2009
URGENT * URGENT * URGENT * URGENT * URGENT * URGENT * URGENT * URGENT * URGENT

DFOW has just been notified by a very credible source that between now and just after legislators go back into session floor periods (September 15, 2009), the Humane Society of the United States will be orchestrating a breeder bust.

If you have been listed in a breeder directory, have shown your dogs or have advertised a litter in any publication in the last nine years—you must be on your guard at all times. Do not allow anyone into your home without a search warrant. In the State of Wisconsin, Animal Control officers and HSUS do not have police powers. They must be accompanied by law enforcement (although some law enforcement officers are also animal control officers) with a search warrant in order to enter your premises. If HSUS is working in conjunction with law enforcement and there is a search warrant, you must cooperate. DO NOT SIGN OVER ANY OF YOUR DOGS if threatened. Do not believe those that state that the charges against you will be lessened if you sign over your dogs. Video tape the entire proceedings. If you are detained asking questions while a search is going on, have another individual available to video tape or photograph the proceedings. Ask for proof of identification. Get names and license plate numbers for those coming onto your property.

Some breeders have had to get special permits in order to have more than the arbitrary number of allowed animals in their community and have had to waive their constitutional rights in order to get those permits. If you are in this situation, you must contact a lawyer and find out what your rights are TODAY.

If animal control or law enforcement come to your door, walk out of your door and shut it behind you. Do not allow them to enter your home—you go out to them unless they have a search
warrant. Please read the article “What to do when animal control comes knocking”
http://www.dpca.org/BreedEd/when_animal_control_comes.htm for more details.

If anything seems amiss, make notes of dates and times, take names, get witness names, what they did, take photos, and keep a log of suspicious activities. We often hear fanciers state that “this issue will never affect me” when it comes to breeder licensing legislation. There have been at least 4 situations that have already happened in OUR STATE since the beginning of the year and breeder licensing requirements have not yet been passed into law. The orchestrated bust that we were warned about today could very well be targeted at any one of us.

You must protect yourself against false accusations. This is a very serious situation. If you truly
believe in preserving the future of your chosen breed or breeds, you must do everything in your
power to protect those breeds and their heritage. Insist on the preservation of your constitutional rights.

Dog Federation of Wisconsin
742 S. Indiana Ave.
West Bend, WI 53095

http://www.dfow.net/DFOWALERTS.htm

Indiana - Vote NO on HB 1468

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


~~~~~
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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~
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