# Michigan Pound Seizure and Gassing Bills



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

Pound Seizure 
I am so pleased to announce that last Thursday, Rep. Espinoza filed HB 4663, Michigan’s new pound seizure bill. This bill was written by American Humane (I have personally spent 10 years of working on Michigan pound seizure issues), and the State Bar of Michigan Animal Law Section. Our colleagues at the American Anti-Vivisection Society and the New England Anti-Vivisection Society assisted with the language and have also endorsed the bill. Michigan Humane Society and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine have also endorsed the bill. The bill’s original co-sponsors include Rep. Terry Brown, Jeff Meyers and Mike Huckleberry.
Attached are the following: 
· Bill language = This is the strictest language we could craft that has a legitimate chance of passing and becoming law. It stops the dealers from taking shelter cats and dogs (period!) and seriously limits research facilities from taking the shelter pets (with 3 exemptions that are in the best interests of cats and dogs). The bill contains 3 important exemptions. Because of one exemption, we have secured the endorsement of an opponent on the previous bill (Mid-West Blood Services). Please read the fact sheet for information on these exemptions which benefit shelter pets. 
· A one-page fact sheet = this will be helpful to educate others on this issue 
· A Myth-and-Fact sheet = this will be helpful when handling questions from opponents 
· A one-page endorsement form = This is only for professional endorsements (businesses, shelters, organizations, professionals, etc.). Please ONLY use the online petition below for individual endorsements. 

We have set up an online petition in lieu of filling out the paper endorsement forms for individuals. If you have filled out a paper form as an individual endorsing the bill, please reenter your information on this website so that we have everyone listed. Although we will get out-of-state and foreign country endorsers on the petition, American Humane will be able to weed them out and create a separate list of Michigan supporters. The link is http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/649021463 

Please forward this information to as many people as you know. If everyone could get 10 endorsements, we easily will reach our target goal. And we need to do this as quickly as possible since we will be asking for a bill hearing within a month or so. We are fortunate to have co-sponsors Rep. Meyers and Huckleberry on the pound seizure bill and they are on the Agriculture Committee where both bills are housed. 

Humane Euthanasia Bill 
Rep. Rick Jones filed the Humane Euthanasia of Shelter Animals Act in February. The bill and myth and fact sheet are attached. American Humane and the State Bar of Michigan Animal Law Section drafted the language. However, because that bill language had some information inadvertently deleted during filing, we have substituted language waiting in the committee. The current bill language bans gas chambers everywhere, whereas the substituted language bans the chamber from animal shelters and dealers and mandates the use of injection. 

We have also prepared an online petition for this bill and the link is http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/900398769. Again, we will be able to weed out the non-Michigan endorsers so that we have a complete list for the legislature. Only individuals should use the online petition, and all others (businesses, shelters, etc.) should use the attached paper endorsement form. 

It is crucial that we obtain as many endorsements (from Michigan) of both bills in order to show support to the legislators and potential opponents. Endorsers can be: 
· Individuals (on-line petition ONLY) 
· Veterinarians (especially for the euthanasia bill due to expected opposition) 
· Animal Shelters and Rescue Organizations 
· Businesses 
· Doctors or medical professionals (especially for the pound seizure bill) 
· And anyone in Michigan who wants to support these efforts 
The paper endorsement form can be emailed or faxed to me. 

An action alert on both bills was just issued so please go to http://www.americanhumane.org/advocacy/ and scroll down to Michigan to take action. Please consider contacting your local House Representative to ask them to support either or both of these bills. 

Together, we can get both of these bills to pass this year and I’m so please to be working with all of you to make this happen! 

Allie Phillips, J.D. 
Director of Public Policy 
American Humane Association


----------



## skyizzy (Apr 15, 2008)

Sherri Thank-You so much for all you do.







I will do all I can to help you and help get these bills passed. Everyone in Michigan lets show our goverment how much we care . Please crosspost to all MIchigan Rescues.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/900398769

Doreen


----------



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

If you have trouble viewing or submitting this form, you can fill it out online: 
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cEpEU1RFd0ZSWnpzbXp5WV95LW5rZWc6MA.. 

Stop Michigan's animal shelters from giving or selling live dogs and cats to Class B Brokers and others for non-companion uses.

Make 2009 a Good Year for Michigan Shelter pets.

HB 4663 has been introduced in the Michigan House. Our first goal is to see this legislation passed. We know that there are sufficient numbers of animal-loving, Michigan residents to convince Lansing that we are tired of our shelter animals being given to profiteering Class B Brokers to sell for use in research and teaching.

Another Bill, HB 4263, will prohibit Michigan shelters from using gassing as a method of killing and require humane euthanasia by injection. The gassing methods employed in many shelters are not in compliance with the AVMA's recomendations and there is little being done in the way of enforcing existing policies. The best solution is to do away with gassing, period.

If you want to see an end to pound seizure in Michigan ~ stopping our shelters from giving dogs to Class B Brokers to sell for reseach use ~ and an end to the horrors of death by gassing, then please take a moment to let us know who you are, how to reach you and what you can do to help.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Montcalm county just had a hearing on not renewing the contract with R&R research, and because of this pending legislation, R&R will hopefully be out of business. Next meeting to vote on this in Montcalm is in April.
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/Mont_County_animal_debate_continues

http://www.thedailynews.cc/main.asp?SectionID=2&subsectionID=2&articleID=24979


----------



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

Graitot Has a 5 year contract and R&R will get other small LOW income shelters.

We need this law... 

Letter from Death Row
Author Unknown

I am writing this letter to you from Death Row, on this day, the last day of my life. Yes, in just a few short hours, I will walk down that long corridor, to the gas chamber. No priest will escort me, giving me comfort or prayers for my soul. No family will visit me or even miss me when I am gone. My "family" abandoned me long ago. As a matter of fact, I doubt anyone will ever give me or my death, even a passing thought after today. The saddest fact in this whole matter is that I am innocent. I have done no crime, yet today, I will die in the gas chamber. I know that others have said "I am innocent", all the way to their deaths, but in my case, it is the truth. 

Let me take you back through my life, tell you my story, then you decide for yourself whether or not I deserve to die. I do not know my parents. I doubt that they even remember me. I do not think that my parents knew each other for very long. My birth was just the tragic beginning of a tormented life, conceived by strangers. I know that my father was not around for my birth, and my mother did not stick around for very long after. I guess I cannot really blame my mother, she just could not take care of me. As a youngster, I seemed to just "fall through the cracks" of the system. I wandered around aimlessly, looking for food and shelter anywhere I could find it. Every once in awhile, a kind person would try to help me out, but it was always temporary sympathy, and then they would be on their way, leaving me just alone as ever. 

As fate would have it, I wound up pregnant. It was a hard pregnancy. I never seemed to get enough to eat, and having no permanent home, I was always exposed to the weather. I actually slept outside throughout my entire pregnancy. No medical care was available to me. My first pregnancy produced three beautiful babies, but like my own mother, I could not care for them. I do not know what eventually became of my babies. As a matter of fact, I have given birth on three separate occasions, and I do not know where ANY of my babies are now. Shortly after my third pregnancy, my health was suffering badly. I did not know how to get medical attention and nobody offered to help me. I was very malnourished and extremely weak. One particularly bad day, I was stumbling around the streets, very tired, very hungry, and very weak. I guess I just was not paying attention, but I stepped out into the street. An oncoming car tried to stop, but it was too late. I was knocked down and I felt a terrible pain in my leg. I was sure it was broken. The car kept going, and once again, I was in terrible trouble. I knew I had to get out of the street, so I dragged myself to the curb. 

Once again, I needed medical treatment, but it seemed that not one person was willing to help me. I still, to this day, walk with a limp, as a result of my leg never having healed properly. Time marched on, and I continued to struggle along. I was hanging out on the streets one night, and I was picked up by a man. He seemed nice enough at first, he took me home with him, offered me food and shelter, so I decided to hang around for awhile. I am not really sure what I did wrong, but after awhile, he said he was tired of me, could not afford to have me around, and that I would have to go. 
We got into his car, drove out to an old, deserted road, and he put me out. He just left me there. I was alone again. After several long days, I found my way to the nearest city. I thought surely I would find somebody to help me out of this "**** on earth" that I found myself living. Eventually, the police, who had seen me hanging out on the streets for several days, picked me up and took me to this horrible prison where I now find myself. I have been here about a week, and nobody has told me what wrong I have committed. I sleep, eat, and relieve myself in my little cell. The smell is horrible, and it is so very noisy here. All of the other prisoners cry and call out endlessly. It seems that I am being punished for simply being born. 
How can this happen in such a "civilized" world? So, now that you have heard my story, what do you think? Do you think that I must be violent, that maybe I am a bankrobber, or a drug dealer, or maybe even a murderer? Whatever you think, do not feel sorry for me, maybe I will find the peace in death that I have never found in life. By the way, I am not a bankrobber, drug dealer,or murderer, I am not even a human...I am


----------



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

dog


----------



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

Saw it on the news tonight. Pretty cool. Almost everyone is against it. One gal came with a cat carrier full of cash, 5 grand to donate to the shelter. she said "you keep saying it is about money, put your ,money where your mouth is. Here is money I will donate if you vote to stop this. (not word for word of course but fairly close)
And it sounded like they were going to euth with a needle as well.
Do you think the dealer is lining the commissioners pockets?'
Gwen


----------



## skyizzy (Apr 15, 2008)

bump


----------



## skyizzy (Apr 15, 2008)

bump


----------



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

USDA investigating R&R Research

http://www.thedailynews.cc/main.asp?SectionID=2&subsectionID=2&articleID=26734

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em1kM_Toz-U


----------



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

we are loosing the fight.. We need support from Doctors, vets, and michigan residents.. Please talk to your neighbors, friends, co workers..

Help protect Michigan’s shelter animals from inhumane euthanasia practices and pound seizure!
The Michigan House of Representatives is considering two groundbreaking bills to protect animals.

Pound Seizure
House Bill 4663, or Koda’s Law, would eliminate pound seizure. Pound seizure is the practice of allowing shelter cats and dogs to be used in experimental research.

“Koda’s Law” is named after a shelter dog who, instead of being placed for adoption, was sold to a USDA Class B Dealer (animal broker) and resold to the University of Michigan, where he was used in the university’s Advanced Trauma Life Support Class, and then euthanized. Koda’s former family believed that taking him to a shelter would allow him another opportunity to find a home and did not know he would be used in a research experiment.

Companion animals depend on humans for their safety and well-being. Tragically, this dependency is betrayed when shelters allow these pets to be taken by Class B Dealers for resale to research facilities. When Class B dealers and research facilities can obtain cats and dogs like Koda from animal shelters, it diminishes the shelters’ credibility and purpose, and betrays public trust.

Currently, four shelters in Michigan practice pound seizure. Passing this bill is essential toward ensuring that the law supports the community’s overwhelming rejection of this practice. Moreover, Koda’s Law would lessen the burden on the USDA, since the USDA expends significant resources to frequently inspect the activities of Class B dealers due to prior prosecutions regarding pet theft.

Koda’s Law will not prohibit legitimate medical research. Research facilities will still be able to obtain cats and dogs from licensees who breed animals for research. This bill simply stops shelter cats and dogs from being used in research. The bill permits several veterinary training and research activities with shelter cats and dogs, including allowing spay-neuter training, correcting pre-existing medical conditions (such as broken bones or illnesses) and allowing blood banks to obtain life-saving animal blood. The cats and dogs are then placed for adoption.

Koda’s Law is sponsored by Rep. John Espinoza and co-sponsored by Reps. Terry Brown, Mike Huckleberry and Jeff Mayes. It was drafted by American Humane and the State Bar of Michigan Animal Law Section.

Humane Euthanasia
House Bill 4263, the Humane Euthanasia of Shelter Animals Act, would ensure that when the state’s unwanted, sick or unadoptable shelter animals have to be euthanized, the procedure will only be done by injection of sodium pentobarbital. This method is called “euthanasia by injection” or “EBI.”

American Humane considers EBI to be the only acceptable and humane means of euthanasia of dogs and cats in animal shelters.

Most shelter workers wish to hold and comfort a frightened animal in its final moments of life. That act may be the only kindness the animal has ever known. In contrast, even with vigilant oversight, euthanizing any animal by means of a carbon monoxide or dioxide gas chamber is severely inhumane to medium and large dogs, and is demoralizing to the shelter workers. Such outdated practices also create public outcry and demean the purpose of an animal shelter.

American Humane recently commissioned a study on the costs of EBI and gas chambers that proves EBI is less costly to communities. Using data from an animal sheltering organization, the study shows that the cost to use carbon monoxide poisoning is $4.98 per animal. The cost to use EBI, however, is only $2.29 per animal.

The continual public outcry against the inhumane techniques still used in 12 of the state’s shelters illustrates a critical need for HB 4263 to pass. A substitute amendment has been added to this bill to ensure that Class B Dealers cannot euthanize animals they take from shelters by any method but EBI.

HB 4263 is sponsored by Rep. Rick Jones and was drafted by American Humane and the State Bar of Michigan Animal Law Section.

Both bills are currently in the House Agriculture Committee. Please ask your representative to support them.

Please also ask Chairman Mike Simpson to schedule HB 4663 (Koda’s Law) and HB 4263 (including its substitute amendment) for a hearing and to vote for their passag


----------



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

Please continue to fight for these bill to be passed. With out support we will loose this fight


----------



## lovemyShepherd (Feb 10, 2006)

Gratiot and Mecosta Counties are the only two taxpayer funded animal
shelters in Michigan that still trade LIVE animals with class-b animal
dealers in exchange for carcass hauling. Gratiot gives it's living and
dead animals to class-b dealer, R&R Research and Mecosta County gives animals to class-b dealer, Cherri Hill Kennels.

Last week in a five-to-two vote, Gratiot County Commissioners decided to not allow shelter-to-shelter transfers. Instead they are going to, "watch Montcalm County for six months." So instead of giving cats and dogs a chance to get adopted at another shelter, the commissioners essentially voted to stock pile animals for the class-b research dealer at their tax funded shelter.

The Gratiot County Animal Shelter is only open to the public for limited
hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Jim Woudenberg, owner of R&R Research, has a key to the Gratiot animal shelter so he can come and go as he wishes.

Instead of practicing humane euthanasia Gratiot is still using an outdated and inhumane gas chamber.

If it concerns you that Gratiot County is saving animals for a class-b
animal dealer, who is currently under investigation by the USDA, Please
Send Commissioner Correspondence to [email protected] , or better yet bring friends and voice your concerns during public comment at a commissioners meeting.

Thank you.


Subject: Encourage USDA to Shut Down R&R Research
Reply-To: AAVS 


Based in Howard City, Michigan, R&R Research (R&R) is a Class B animal dealer that sells random source cats and dogs to research facilities. R&R has received multiple Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations, including several incidents where animals were obtained from illegal sources. It is USDA’s responsibility to uphold the AWA. Because R&R has a pattern of AWA violations, and continues to violate the AWA’s Protection of Pets section, USDA should exercise its authority by permanently revoking R&R’s license.Click here to read more and take action!


----------

