Hi. My name is Dakota and I am a 7 year old, 8 pound, female Pomeranian. My owner is named Nancy and I live in Nanuet, New York. I am fond of small toys, liver, greenies and cheese... ahhh...cheese.  I am a very happy dog, in fact, they call me the Mayor because I greet almost everybody.

Hi there. I am Cherokee, a 7 pound female pomeranian who lived in New York City for 17 years. I crossed the Rainbow Bridge about 4 years ago which limits my activities. Before that I loved riding in cars and eating liver or cheese treats.

Bark soon,

Cherokee

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OHIO BSL UPDATE - CONTRIBUTED BY BLAZE

H.B. 568

Although Yates indicated that he would be changing the substance of H.B. 568 from its current form, he has not done so and has also failed to pull the bill.  Consequently, it is still imperative that Ohio residents pressure their representatives and other legislators to oppose HB 568.  If your representative has already provided you with his/her position on HB 568, there is no need to continue to contact him/her.  This is only for representatives who have failed to take a position.

Please visit the following link for instructions on who to contact: 

http://www.canineadvocatesofohio.org/BSL/Pending_OH_BIlls/H.B._568.htm

Please understand that until H.B. 568 is withdrawn or changed to remove breed-specific legislation, we must continue to work hard to oppose this bill. Although Yates has informally “agreed” to a compromise, I am not sure any of us will be happy with a “compromise” from the man who has unjustifiably proposed to kill our dogs. ? 

If your representative has not provided you with a concrete position on HB 568 or if you have not received a response from your representative regarding H.B. 568, please contact him/her again and request that he/she take a position on HB 568 and BSL generally.  Continue to be polite and respectful but in the nicest way, please demand a position.  Elections are fast approaching and we must elect those that will protect our rights.  If you have not made your calls, sent your letters and sent your emails, please do all three!!!!  If you’ve done all three but received no response, please send another email and make another call. 

(Of note:  we do not believe H.B. 568 will be heard this fall, if at all.  When the legislature returns from summer recess, elections will take precedence.  It is extremely unlikely that a committee will hear a new bill.  Notwithstanding this fact, we must continue to pressure the committee and our representatives to ensure this bill does not move forward at all!)

H.B. 366

Many people have been contacting me asking that we support H.B. 366.  As I’ve stated in previous emails, we first organized Canine Advocates of Ohio to support H.B. 366.  After many months of research, many late night debates and endless work to find a way to protect our rights to own any dogs we desire, we have come to the conclusion that H.B. 366 will do more harm than good. 

At first glance, H.B. 366 looks to be the answer to all of our prayers.  It removes breed-specific legislation from Ohio State law.  Unfortunately, H.B. 366 includes language that Ohio localities may pass any ordinance such localities’ desire, even breed-specific legislation.  From a legal standpoint, this is very dangerous for residents of Ohio .  First, this gives Ohio localities more rights than we believe they currently have.  Second, if we allow H.B. 366 to pass, things will only get worse for us because we will have to battle each city when a ban is proposed.  In addition, if we pass a law regarding breed-specific legislation, it is unlikely our legislature will hear another bill re: BSL so soon after passing a new state law if, in fact, we get it wrong with H.B. 366.

Think long and hard about our future as dog owners in the State of Ohio .  We do not want to rush this process in hopes of getting a law passed that will end up harming us in the end.  H.B. 366 is bad law.  H.B. 366 was drafted lazily.  Webster has done nothing to gain support for his bill and is very difficult to work with.  So, as much as we appreciate his efforts to remove BSL from Ohio law, much more consideration needs to be given to a breed-neutral law in its entirety.  This bill simply is insufficient and BAD LAW.

Since H.B. 568 was introduced, CAO has grown substantially.  We have impressive numbers and are growing daily.  Everyone on this list is opposed to BSL and we are all over Ohio .  We even have a very large list for those outside our State who are actively involved in fighting for our rights.

That being said, Canine Advocates of Ohio will be focusing on increasing its membership, conducting constituent meetings, which we hope you will attend, and determining the appropriate representative to sponsor a bill to prohibit localities in Ohio from passing breed-specific legislation.  We have the momentum and we can do this together.  Because the legislature takes summer recess this week and because the elections are in the Fall of 2008, it is extremely unlikely that any committees will hear new issues.  As a result, our goal will be to elect representatives who oppose BSL and who are likely to champion our cause.  We are working with very knowledgeable lobbyists, legislative experts, Anti-BSL organization, attorneys and experts on constitutional rights.

Matt Lundy Town Hall Meetings

As you know, Representative Lundy had many Town Hall Meetings this summer.  At his first meeting, 25 people were in attendance.  We provided him with a package of information and spoke out against H.B. 568.  We also made it clear that H.B. 568 is not our only concern: we want BSL removed from State law.  At that first meeting, we all felt that he did not understand our concerns. 

At the second meeting, 50 people were present, wearing their “oppose BSL” buttons, and continued to pressure Lundy to listen to our concerns.  That he did!  He requested additional information and a meeting with CAO .  CAO met with Rep. Lundy and he is against breed-specific legislation.  He gave us many great pointers and offered to set up a call with Rep. Yates to discuss his future efforts. 

We do not believe Rep. Lundy is a prospective sponsor of a new bill prohibiting BSL from State law; however, he may be a good ally.  We plan on speaking with Lundy’s opponent to determine who will protect our interests better.

Contacting Constituents

We have distributed questionnaires to each candidate running in the 2008 Ohio elections.  We have asked whether they oppose HB 568, oppose breed specific legislation in the form of regulations and/or breed specific legislation in the form of bans and whether they would support a prohibition on BSL.  We have received a few requests for additional information and a few completed questionnaires.  The CAO site will be updated to show each candidates’ position.

If we do not receive questionnaires, we will need to contact each non-responding candidate.  This takes time and, with elections fast approaching time is of the essence.  If anyone has time to help contact candidates, please contact me asap.  We do not want to wait to obtain this information.   

Lakewood

As you know, the City of Lakewood passed a ban.  Lakewood residents have been obtaining signatures on a petition to repeal the ban.  If you are interested in keeping up with what’s going on with Lakewood , please visit our site.  We have devoted an entire page to the current status in Lakewood . 

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT WE HAVE THE POWER TO END THIS MADNESS IN OHIO .  WE DO NOT WANT TO SPEND THE NEXT YEARS OF OUR LIVES FIGHTING CITY AFTER CITY.  LET’S END THIS NOW.

IF WE WORK HARD TO STOP THIS NOW, WE CAN RELAX WHEN A LAW PROHIBITING BSL IS PASSED.  WE CAN DO THIS SOONER RATHER THAN LATER IF WE ARE RESILIENT AND UNIFIED.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GETTING YOUR HANDS DIRTY AND BECOMING MORE INVOLVED, WE CAN USE ANY AND ALL HELP!!! 

Regards!

Shana

*****************************
Shana Klein, President
CANINE ADVOCATES OF OHIO
P.O. Box 19081
Cleveland, Ohio   44119
www.canineadvocatesofohio.org

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

ELECTION DAY

 DON'T FORGET

TO VOTE! 

DAKOTA AND BLAZE

NICKEY AND JUSTICE