Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Texas
Posts: 4324

A registry bill was recently introduced in Washington. The fiscal note
estimates a one-time cost of approximately $27,800 for modifications to the judicial court system. A cost of $823,032 to state agencies to provide legal services to review and defend legal issues, development of the tracking tool and to populate the registry and the main web site, and data entry and quality assurance for accuracy of the data. In addition the fiscal note estimates a cost of approximately $1,200 to local governments for court impacts, including judicial costs, clerk costs, and court fees.

SB 779 allows third parties to fund establishment and implementation of the abuser registry. The animal rights organizations supporting animal abuser registries have an agenda that doesn't include concerns for people and extends far beyond animal welfare. An abuser registry, driven by the animal rights platform that considers all animal use abusive, has no place in Texas law.

Regardless of funding by wealthy animal right groups
ALDF NATIONAL REGISTRY CAMPAIGN
Establishing animal abuser registries is a campaign championed by the California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) whose mission is to advance the interests of nonhuman animals through the legal system and expand the boundaries of animal law through groundbreaking lawsuits. ALDF advocates changing the legal status of animals from property to personhood.
ALDF claims that convicted animal abusers pose a real, ongoing threat to
your pets, your family, and your community. In reality nearly all animal
cruelty involves neglect by the animal's owner. The likelihood that animal
abusers will stalk neighbors and snatch pets in order to abuse them is
infinitesimal. The proposed animal abuser registry only creates another
state bureaucracy. Animal abuser registries have little to do with
protection of people or animals, are overly invasive, costly to maintain,
and have no proven benefit.

MORE ON ALDF
Once upon a time, Texas attorney Robert "Skip" Trimble raced horses. Now he rescues them. "I'm a former animal abuser. I used to own racehorses, raise roping steers, hunt and eat meat," Trimble says. "I've probably done it all.
But that's changed." Changed so much, in fact, that today Trimble is a busy animal advocate - and chairman of ALDF's Board of Directors. Quoted from
'Abuser' to Animal Champion, the Animals Advocate - Quarterly newsletter of the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

"Everything we are doing lays the foundation for the one day when animals
will have rights" ...."We need to get in their faces and sue the animal
users so often they don't know which courtroom they're supposed to appear in next." Valerie Stanley, ALDF Attorney June, 1996

ALDF supported the suit by Northwest Animal Rights Network and one of its members against the State of Washington and King County. The suit contended that granting exemptions under the state's animal cruelty legislation for commercial food production, rodeo events, veterinary practices, and university research was unconstitutional.

ACTION REQUIRED
The bill has been assigned to Senate Committee on Criminal Justice (C590)
which Sen. Whitmire chairs. Call the Committee Clerk, Michaela Bernacchio
(512) 463-0345, and ask to be registered as Opposed to SB 779.

Find additional information and talking points, download phone, fax, and
email contacts for committee members from the SAOVA website.
http://www.saova.org/TexasSB779.html

__________________
SKY
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Author of the novel "Follow Jennifer"

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