As many of you know, I started a non-profit animal rescue organization two years ago in Hermiston, Oregon. I did this because I was working at a vet hospital and I saw a clear and urgent need for helping stray animals in the region.
When I started, there were exactly zero other 501c(3) private rescues in Hermiston and surrounding areas. Zero. There is no animal control accept the small, over-worked and under-funded city police forces, who will
sometimes go out and catch stray dogs. They
sometimes respond to reports of abuse/neglect, but most of the time ignore or don't follow up on these reports because they "don't have time" or "it's only a dog" (actual quotes from local police officers).
There is one shelter for the entire area. It is in Hermiston, it has a contract with the city and county to house stray cats and dogs. It is in a small and aging building, has essentially one staff member, and operates under very
sloppy, outdated sheltering policies and is in no mood to work toward positive change. They end up
euthanizing at least 50% of their animals and give all indications that they just don't care. This is the only group contracted (and paid) by the city and county to deal with community animals.
All the slack from this under-performing shelter and lack of animal control is being taken up by regular citizens and the (now two) non-profits in town. The same people being insulted by supporters of SB 6.
This is a statement in support of SB 6 from
Sharon Harmon, the Executive Director of the Oregon Humane Society in Portland, the largest and most well-funded animal shelter in the state:
"In the last decade there has been a tremendous increase in the underground pet railroad. There are thousands of animals moving through these nontraditional groups in Oregon. ...
these rescues fly under the radar in every sense... The phenomenon of animal rescue turned rescue hoarder is
not too far down the continuum for many of these groups.... leads some people to believe any
life is better than death, even if that means a slow and painful ... death ... That is what we saw in Brooks. We have a chance to regulate
them now and we should take that opportunity before it happens again..."
There is a petition at Change.org that has a good, detailed response to Harmon and I encourage you to go to that link and read it (and sign the petition). Here's one important quote (links and bolding provided by me):
"Existing laws deal effectively with animal abuse and neglect. Failure to vigorously enforce
existing animal abuse and neglect laws comes from the fact that most
enforcement agencies grant low priority to animal protection. ... [This] cannot be corrected by passage of another law
granting current enforcement agencies greater unfettered police powers
and “deputizing” large corporate humane societies and government animal
control agencies... the sponsors of Senate Bill 6 [state] that Sections 10 and
11 are “necessary” components of the bill because independent animal
rescues are at “high risk” for animal abuse/neglect offense and must be
regulated is shocking and completely unsupported by the facts.
Exploiting one sensational criminal case, the Alicia
Inglish case in Salem, Oregon,
a case successfully prosecuted under
existing laws, is a calculated misleading effort ... The incidence of neglect or abuse among
Oregon’s hundreds of small independent rescues is extraordinarily rare.
Why are independent rescues being targeted as a class instead of simply
prosecuting abuse or neglect where it is found, individually or as an
entity?
Under the guise of providing modest
accountability, Sections 10 and 11 of Senate Bill 6 grant unfettered
police powers to enforcement agencies to search and inspect the private
property of rescues, often their homes and homes of foster families,
without the need to show probable cause. That is very likely
unconstitutional."
I'd also like to add that this "underground highway" that Harmon holds in such contempt...
that's me. It's all of us who are working our asses off with no large
organization's
help. (Except when they occasionally accept healthy, vaccinated, highly
adoptable puppies and kittens from us. Very magnanimous of them, btw).
I'd
love to tell her one
thing she's missing in her fervor:
we don't want this. I feel I can
speak for at least 90% of my fellow East Side rescuers when I say we'd
much rather have a large, centralized organization to call for help. We
all would prefer to be just a regular volunteers at such an
organization; to clean cages, walk dogs, transport, foster, help out at
spay/neuter clinics... all the stuff we're already doing, but without
the help of large well-funded organizations, nice buildings, paid staff, high visibility, and large population centers.
And now they want to make our lives more difficult, and insult us in the process.
I urge you to call the Governor's Citizens' Representative Office at (503) 378-4582 and tell the Governor that Sections 10 and 11 of Senate Bill 6 are unacceptable, unconstitutional, useless in stopping animal abuse any better than already existing laws.
Links and quotes on SB 6:
Full text of bill
here.
A summary:
S.B. 6 defines “animal rescue entity” as “an individual or
organization, including but not limited to an animal control agency,
humane society, animal shelter, animal sanctuary or boarding kennel…,
but excluding a veterinary facility, that keeps, houses, and maintains
in its custody 10 or more animals and that solicits or accepts donations
in any form.”
Under the bill all animal rescues must be licensed each year by local authorities. The “enforcing agency”
will be the dog licensing and control program in the city or county or
if there is none, then an agency designated by the local government.
Rescues are required to maintain records for each
animal that state: date animal rescue entity acquired the animal; source of the animal; The number of offspring the animal produced while in the possession; age, sex, breed type and weight of the animal at intake; and lastly a photo of each animal taken within 24 hours of intake.
Under the bill each person or entity is subject to inspections including of records and must “furnish reports and
information required by the enforcing agency”.
The bill would require that complaints about the animal rescue entity
that are made to state agencies must be sent on to the enforcing
agency. The enforcing agency would be required to conduct inspections if
there has been a “credible and serous” complaint. Otherwise, the
enforcing agency could conduct inspections at reasonable times. No
license could be renewed unless the person or organization is in
compliance. The enforcing agency would be required to seize evidence of
animal cruelty violations and report it to law enforcement
According to
animal law site: "It is not clear this new proposed law will have much impact in
improving local animal control or public shelters. After all, the city
or county would be responsible for enforcing these requirements against
its own animal control or shelter. The greatest impact is likely to be
on private animal rescues. The legislation was prompted by a raid in
January, 2013 on Willamette Valley Animal Rescue in Brooks, Oregon where
149 dogs were seized and the operator, Alicia Inglish, was charged with
120 counts of animal neglect and one count of evidence tampering. It is
hoped this bill, if signed into law, will serve to prevent such
hoarding and cruel neglect."
A
letter:
Dear Senators:
I write in opposition to
Sections 10 and 11 (as currently written, if not again amended) of
Senate Bill 6 and, because I understand that the legislative process
does not permit amendment to the Bill deleting those sections, I urge
you to vote “no” when the Bill is presented on Monday, July 1, 2013.
I have practiced law in Oregon for over 40 years and, as my pro bono
commitment to the profession, have devoted thousands of hours to the
goal of protecting the rights of animals, animal owners, and people
dedicated to the welfare of animals entrusted to their care. In my
judgment, Sections 10 and 11 suffer from two major flaws. They (a)
threaten the rights of the hundreds of people committed to saving animal
lives by operating the small “animal rescue” entities that offer the
last chance of survival for animals that public agencies cannot afford
to save and (b) will make prosecution of those who abuse and neglect
animals more difficult and costly. If Senate Bill 6 and Sections 10 and
11 become law in Oregon many – certainly hundreds and probably thousands
– of animals who would otherwise be saved and permitted to live out
their lives in humane and caring homes will be doomed.
The
fundamental problem with Sections 10 and 11 of the Senate Bill is that
those provisions purport to give broadly defined “enforcing agencies”
the authority to conduct warrantless inspections of the homes of
licensed small animal rescues upon receipt of “a complaint.” There is no
provision for an independent assessment of the complainant’s
credibility, not even a requirement that the complainant be identified.
Many who conduct their rescue efforts with the highest regard for their
animals will be reluctant to accept the intrusions that licensure
requires. Worse still, it is highly likely – probably certain – that
those who fully deserve prosecution under current laws will refuse to
obtain licenses and by “going underground” achieve a practical immunity
directly contrary to the purposes of the Bill.
In an email
requesting that opposition to Senate Bill 6 be called off, the chief
sponsor’s policy analyst acknowledged that “small rescues were not
consulted in the writing of [SB 6]” and that, because “legislation is
often not perfect the first go around,” the Bill could be “tighten[ed]
up to target bad actors more specifically.” The time to properly target
the “bad actors” and consult with those most knowledgeable about “small
rescues” should precede – not follow – enactment. Please vote “no” on
Senate Bill 6. In its current form, it will do more harm than good.
Robert E. Babcock
Holmes Weddle & Barcott, P.C.
310 North State Street, Suite 200
Lake Oswego, OR 97034
A
letter from the
Oregon Cat Project:
have you ever fostered a kitten or
want to foster one in the future? You wont after you read State Senate
Bill 6, a bill to be voted on
on Saturday. It will allow agencies such
as OHS, police powers to come in and search your home without probable
cause. Well, there went all of TOCP's and most other small rescues
foster homes. Good fosters are hard enough to find and there are never enough to help all the babies in need.
Cats and Kittens will literally have to be left in the street to
survive on their own, as no small rescue will have the foster resources
needed to take them in, if Senate Bill 6 passes
this Saturday.
Please read on. This is written by the petition's author, Gail O'Connell.
July 03, 2013 Update: Small animal rescues in Oregon, the primary
stakeholders affected by Sections 10 and 11 of Senate Bill 6, were not
allowed a voice in this legislation by the bill’s main sponsors OHS and
HSUS. When we asked for input we were told we had to first give up the
right to object.
A False Claim: The proposition made by the
sponsors of Senate Bill 6 that Sections 10 and 11 are “necessary”
components of the bill because independent animal rescues are at “high
risk” for animal abuse/neglect offense and must be regulated (by them)
is shocking and completely unsupported by the facts. Exploiting one
recent isolated sensational criminal case, the Alicia Inglish case in
Salem, Oregon, a case successfully prosecuted under existing laws, is a
calculated misleading effort driven by an unspecified political agenda.
The incidence of neglect or abuse among Oregon’s hundreds of small
independent rescues is extraordinarily rare. Why are independent rescues
being targeted as a class instead of simply prosecuting abuse or
neglect where it is found, individually or as an entity?
Under
the guise of providing modest accountability, Sections 10 and 11 of
Senate Bill 6 grant unfettered police powers to enforcement agencies to
search and inspect the private property of rescues, often their homes
and homes of foster families, without the need to show probable cause.
That is very likely unconstitutional.
The Reality: No one works
harder out of pocket, driven by compassion, than Oregon’s independent
small animal rescues. That can be proven every day.
As small
rescues we have no political agenda and no lobbyists at the legislature.
Our mission is humanitarian not politically motivated or driven:
rescuing and saving the lives of Oregon’s homeless companion animals.
When small independent rescues fund raise we do so for the sake of
homeless animals, not to fund campaign efforts. We have no other group
purpose.
Large corporate animal protection societies, some who
are sponsors of SB 6 have never represented us nor do they represent our
interests now. We are the rescues that take the animals that large
humane societies and county and city animal control agencies deem
“unadoptable” and discard. If we didn’t take them they would have no
future. The majority would be killed. We are given no funding by the
corporate animal protection groups (including the bill’s sponsors) to
meet the necessary and often prohibitively costly rehabilitation of the
homeless animals they reject. For example, one small independent rescue
was called by a large well endowed humane society and asked to take a
Rottweiler puppy with hip dysplasia. The humane society kept the puppy’s
littermate, the one without a handicap. Overwhelmingly small animal
rescues (unlike corporate entities) provide all necessary care, do home
checks as part of due diligence, take back adoption returns without
question and correct the problem. Most corporate animal entities do not
have the same exacting high standards. We do not abandon the animals we
have been charged with caring for to the system.
We ask
Oregon’s legislature to please allow our concerns and views to be heard.
Take the time to pass a good bill, not a profoundly flawed bill with
empty promises of later “corrections”. Vote to amend the bill and delete
Sections 10 and 11. It is misguided and there are too many apparent
civil rights violations for the bill to be enforceable.
Senate
Bill 6 is now referred to the House Rules Committee. Representative
John Davis has requested deletion of Sections 10 and 11.
