MA voters CALL your representatives Monday and Tuesday: deadline 11/18
MA Bill Devocalization Ban Down To The Wire
MA CONSTITUENT CALLS TO BEACON HILL LEGISLATORS NEEDED:
MONDAY (11/16/09) AND TUESDAY (11/17/09)
ALERT WRITER: Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets, CPRPets@aol.com
Here's the original link so you can click on links to find out who your state reps are and call them!
BACKGROUND: The Massachusetts legislature is considering An Act Prohibiting Devocalization, House Bill 344, to ban devocalization -- cutting a dog or cat's vocal cords to suppress or remove his voice. Devocalization is more common than most think. In fact, some breeders devocalize routinely to facilitate their businesses.
This convenience surgery renders the animal mute, chronically hoarse, wheezy
or shrill. Long-term risks include breathing struggles, persistent gagging
and coughing, difficulty swallowing or even death, regardless of the
veterinarian's skill or how the vocal cords are cut (through the oral cavity
or a neck incision). Because tissue regrowth is common, the animal may be
subjected to the pain, stress and repeated surgeries.
An Act Prohibiting Devocalization is sponsored by the unfunded,
all-volunteer Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets and endorsed by Angell
Animal Medical Center, shelters statewide and more than 200 concerned MA
vets. Make sure your vet is among them!
Powerful lobbies that profit from devocalization are determined to kill the
bill. Without your voice, animals will continue to be robbed of theirs.
WHY YOU NEED TO TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY:
AFTER 11/18/09, THERE IS LITTLE HOPE...
The bill needs to be released from the Third Reading committee -- without
alteration -- and engrossed (approved) on the House Floor by Nov. 18, 2009,
before the legislature's six-week recess. Otherwise, there's very little
chance it will become law...
MA CONSTITUENT CALLS TO BEACON HILL LEGISLATORS NEEDED:
MONDAY (11/16/09) AND TUESDAY (11/17/09)
WHO TO CALL: Your STATE (Beacon Hill) Representative
To find your State Rep + contact info: http://www.wheredoivotema.com/
Enter your address and look for your "Rep in General Court."
WHAT TO SAY (IN YOUR WORDS): "Please ensure An Act Prohibiting
Devocalization, House Bill 344, moves to the Floor and is engrossed as
written on Wednesday. This is very important to me."
* If you have to leave a voicemail, include your name and address to confirm you're a constituent.
* Calls are much more effective than emails.
Phoebe and Fritz's breeders didn't disclose they'd had the dogs devocalized.
Over 12 years, Phoebe has regained much of her bark, but still gags
persistently. Only 1-1/2, Fritz sounds like "he's chain-smoked unfiltered
cigarettes." He rarely even tries to bark anymore.
LIVE IN THESE CITIES OR TOWNS?
YOUR REP HAS EXTRA CLOUT...AND AS A CONSTITUENT, SO DO YOU?
Winthrop, Revere: Speaker Robert DeLeo is the most powerful
legislator in the House. His support is essential. 617-722-2500
Worcester: Rep. Vincent Pedone chairs Third Reading -- which needs to
release the bill before it can become engrossed. 617-722-2410
Grafton, Westborough, Northbridge, Upton: Rep. George Peterson, Member,
Third Reading. 617-722-2100
West Springfield, Springfield, Chicopee: Rep. James Welch, Member, Third
Reading. 617-722-2396
WHY THE BILL MUST PASS AS WRITTEN:
Those profiting from devocalization are trying to kill the bill OR render it
worthless with loopholes, such as:
1) "Allowable as a last resort to manage barking" is unenforceable.
* No vet can determine, and some won't ask, whether a client pursued all
humane options or proper care. Bored, lonely or anxious dogs bark more...
* This loophole is baseless: Respected shelters testified that devocalized
animals are still abandoned, and barking does NOT force euthanasia.
2) "Permissible if performed by a licensed vet" would maintain the status
quo, and animals would continue to suffer.
* It's vets who are devocalizing now! Yet animals are suffering.
* Devocalization poses serious, life-threatening risks regardless of who
performs it -- including the prominent Mass. Veterinary Medical Assn. member
whose patient choked to death after she devocalized him.
* Angell Animal Medical Center endorses this bill with good reason.
* More than 200 MA vets have taken an ethical stand to endorse it despite
MVMA's alignment with the breeding community against this humane bill.
MEET DEVOCALIZED DOGS & THEIR RESCUERS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZPoyuMw870
HEAR WHAT ANIMAL EXPERTS SAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ADbMoX4aw
MA CONSTITUENT CALLS TO BEACON HILL LEGISLATORS NEEDED:
MONDAY (11/16/09) AND TUESDAY (11/17/09)
ALERT WRITER: Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets, CPRPets@aol.com
Here's the original link so you can click on links to find out who your state reps are and call them!
BACKGROUND: The Massachusetts legislature is considering An Act Prohibiting Devocalization, House Bill 344, to ban devocalization -- cutting a dog or cat's vocal cords to suppress or remove his voice. Devocalization is more common than most think. In fact, some breeders devocalize routinely to facilitate their businesses.
This convenience surgery renders the animal mute, chronically hoarse, wheezy
or shrill. Long-term risks include breathing struggles, persistent gagging
and coughing, difficulty swallowing or even death, regardless of the
veterinarian's skill or how the vocal cords are cut (through the oral cavity
or a neck incision). Because tissue regrowth is common, the animal may be
subjected to the pain, stress and repeated surgeries.
An Act Prohibiting Devocalization is sponsored by the unfunded,
all-volunteer Coalition to Protect and Rescue Pets and endorsed by Angell
Animal Medical Center, shelters statewide and more than 200 concerned MA
vets. Make sure your vet is among them!
Powerful lobbies that profit from devocalization are determined to kill the
bill. Without your voice, animals will continue to be robbed of theirs.
WHY YOU NEED TO TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY:
AFTER 11/18/09, THERE IS LITTLE HOPE...
The bill needs to be released from the Third Reading committee -- without
alteration -- and engrossed (approved) on the House Floor by Nov. 18, 2009,
before the legislature's six-week recess. Otherwise, there's very little
chance it will become law...
MA CONSTITUENT CALLS TO BEACON HILL LEGISLATORS NEEDED:
MONDAY (11/16/09) AND TUESDAY (11/17/09)
WHO TO CALL: Your STATE (Beacon Hill) Representative
To find your State Rep + contact info: http://www.wheredoivotema.com/
Enter your address and look for your "Rep in General Court."
WHAT TO SAY (IN YOUR WORDS): "Please ensure An Act Prohibiting
Devocalization, House Bill 344, moves to the Floor and is engrossed as
written on Wednesday. This is very important to me."
* If you have to leave a voicemail, include your name and address to confirm you're a constituent.
* Calls are much more effective than emails.
Phoebe and Fritz's breeders didn't disclose they'd had the dogs devocalized.
Over 12 years, Phoebe has regained much of her bark, but still gags
persistently. Only 1-1/2, Fritz sounds like "he's chain-smoked unfiltered
cigarettes." He rarely even tries to bark anymore.
LIVE IN THESE CITIES OR TOWNS?
YOUR REP HAS EXTRA CLOUT...AND AS A CONSTITUENT, SO DO YOU?
Winthrop, Revere: Speaker Robert DeLeo is the most powerful
legislator in the House. His support is essential. 617-722-2500
Worcester: Rep. Vincent Pedone chairs Third Reading -- which needs to
release the bill before it can become engrossed. 617-722-2410
Grafton, Westborough, Northbridge, Upton: Rep. George Peterson, Member,
Third Reading. 617-722-2100
West Springfield, Springfield, Chicopee: Rep. James Welch, Member, Third
Reading. 617-722-2396
WHY THE BILL MUST PASS AS WRITTEN:
Those profiting from devocalization are trying to kill the bill OR render it
worthless with loopholes, such as:
1) "Allowable as a last resort to manage barking" is unenforceable.
* No vet can determine, and some won't ask, whether a client pursued all
humane options or proper care. Bored, lonely or anxious dogs bark more...
* This loophole is baseless: Respected shelters testified that devocalized
animals are still abandoned, and barking does NOT force euthanasia.
2) "Permissible if performed by a licensed vet" would maintain the status
quo, and animals would continue to suffer.
* It's vets who are devocalizing now! Yet animals are suffering.
* Devocalization poses serious, life-threatening risks regardless of who
performs it -- including the prominent Mass. Veterinary Medical Assn. member
whose patient choked to death after she devocalized him.
* Angell Animal Medical Center endorses this bill with good reason.
* More than 200 MA vets have taken an ethical stand to endorse it despite
MVMA's alignment with the breeding community against this humane bill.
MEET DEVOCALIZED DOGS & THEIR RESCUERS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZPoyuMw870
HEAR WHAT ANIMAL EXPERTS SAY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ADbMoX4aw