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New WV Bill
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by tenneseejed on March 27, 2005
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How many of us have liability insurance on our iguanas?
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2005_SESSIONS/RS/BILLS/sb137 intr.htm
SB 137 is a very large bill that labels anything not domestic or native to WV as an "exotic". It also gives very broad powers to a committee of three people.
Rescues and breeders of anything will also be considered "pet stores".
If you own an "exotic" (such as a three-toed box turtle, iguana, tortoise, pet bird, you get the idea), you will have to:
" (a) A possessor of an exotic animal shall maintain liability insurance in an amount of not less than one hundred thousand dollars for each occurrence and shall provide a copy of the policy annually to the board.
(b) The possessor of an exotic animal shall post and display, at each possible entrance to the premises, a conspicuous sign, clearly legible and easily readable by the public warning that there is an exotic animal on the premises. In addition, the possessor shall conspicuously display a sign with a warning symbol that informs children of the presence of an exotic animal. The content and size of the sign shall be prescribed by the board."
and it will be:
"unlawful for any person to possess or breed an exotic animal, except in compliance with this act.
§19-9B-13. Possession permit.
(a) No person may own or possess an exotic animal unless the person applies for and is granted a possession permit.
(1) A person who possesses an exotic animal on the effective date of this act must apply for a possession permit within ninety days of the effective date of this act.
(2) A person buying an exotic animal must apply for a possession permit within ten days of the date of purchase.
(b) A possession permit must be renewed annually.
(c) An applicant shall file an application to receive a possession permit with the board on forms supplied by the board. The application shall include, but is not limited to:
(1) The name, address and telephone number of the applicant;
(2) A description of each exotic animal, including the scientific name, sex, age, color, weight and any distinguishing marks or coloration that would aid in the identification of the animal;
(3) A photograph of the exotic animal;
(4) The exact location and a detailed description of the holding facility where the exotic animal is to be kept;
(5) The name, address and telephone number of the person from whom the applicant obtained the exotic animal;
(6) The identification number of the exotic animal required in accordance with the provisions of section fifteen of this article or a verified statement from a veterinarian that placement of an identification number would endanger the exotic animal or an exemption from this requirement granted by the board;
(7) The name, address and phone number of the veterinarian who is to provide veterinary care to the exotic animal; and
(8) Additional information the board may require.
(d) The application for a possession permit shall be accompanied by the applicable permit fee.
(e) A permit may not be granted unless the board finds the following:
(1) The requirements set forth in subsection (a) of this section are met;
(2) The applicant has not been convicted of or found responsible for violating a state or federal law prohibiting cruelty, neglect or mistreatment of an animal or any state or federal law relating to the possession of wildlife or endangered species;
(3) The facility and the conditions in which the exotic animal will be kept are in compliance with this act; and
(4) The applicant has obtained liability insurance for the possession of an exotic animal as required by section eighteen of this article."
Rescues and any breeder of anything will be considered "pet shops", as defined below:
"(6) "Pet shop" means a facility where an animal is kept for the purpose of sale or breeding.
(7) "Possess" means to own, harbor, keep, release, exhibit, bring into the state, offer for sale, offer for trade or have custody or control of an animal.
(8) "Possessor" means the person who owns, harbors, keeps, releases, exhibits, brings into the state, offers for sale, offers for trade or has custody or control of an animal.
(9) "Sale" means and includes, but is not limited to, any transfer of ownership or title, whether for money, exchange for other property or services or without any remuneration."
There is a Yahoo Group set up to fight this bill, WestVirginiaPetLaw, if anyone would like to join and learn more. You can also go here: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/
to learn how to contact a Senator. Please contact the three sponsors, Senators Edgell, Unger, and Barnes, to let them know how you feel on this bill.
If we can get the sponsors to pull the bill, then the bill will be dead. These three gentleman are alos on the finance and/or agricultural committees, which will be hearing, or have already heard, the bill.
Name: Clark S. Barnes
E-mail: cbarnes@mail.wvnet.edu
Party: Republican
County: Randolph
District: 15
Capitol Phone: 304-357-7973
Capitol Office: 203W Special Titles:
Senate Committees:
Education
Health and Human Resources
Agriculture
Judiciary
Pensions
Natural Resources
Name: Larry J. Edgell
E-mail: edgell@mail.wvnet.edu
Party: Democrat
County: Wetzel
District: 02
Business Phone: 304-455-2291
Capitol Phone: 304-357-7827
Capitol Office: 415M Special Titles:
Education Vice Chair
Agriculture Chair
Senate Committees:
Education
Finance
Health and Human Resources
Agriculture
Labor
Pensions
Name: John Unger II
E-mail: unger@mail.wvnet.edu
Party: Democrat
County: Berkeley
District: 16
Business Phone: 304-285-4477
Capitol Phone: 304-357-7933
Capitol Office: 216W Special Titles:
Health and Human Resources Vice Chair
Transportation and Infrastructure Chair
Senate Committees:
Economic Development
Education
Finance
Health and Human Resources
Interstate Cooperation
Agriculture
Transportation and Infrastructure
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Explaining the New WV Bills
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by tenneseejed on March 27, 2005
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Mail this to a friend!
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PLEASE FORWARD/CROSSPOST AS YOU THINK USEFUL!
West Virginia -- Population about 1.2 million -- gets the prize for the most bills aimed at clobbering normal pet breeding and rescue practices in a single legislative session. They have not one, two, or three such bills but FOUR of them.
SB 137, SB 277, HB 2620, and HB 2635 would all require *anyone
selling an animal* to be licensed as a pet shop. Each bill would
set up a state board with broad powers to write regulations for the operation of such pet shops and under the language of the bills those regs would not necessarily have to be approved by anyone.
Promoted as necessary to control diseases, danger to humans
and so on caused by 'exotic animals' (one AR web site says they
need SB 137 to keep people from buying African lions!) ALL of
these bills also regulate all sales of domesticated animals. In my opinion the real aim is to control breeding of ordinary pets.
None of these bills has gone very far in the legislative process. However there are less than three weeks remaining in the legislative session and things will happen fast from here on.
ACTION:
1. What we need first is a lot more players on the state pet law
list. If you have time to help, please send a blank email to:
westvirginiapetlaw-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
We'll be coordinating details there over the next few days.
2. If you know dog or other animal people in West Virginia, please contact them URGENTLY and ask them to join the list above. We need all of the following:
Dog people -- show people, performance, pet owners, trainers,
groomers, vets, pet stores, doggy day care providers, kennel
operators, 4H parents ...
Hunters ...
Cat people ...
Horse and other large animal folks ...
Farmers, believe it or not -- yes, these bills would make a farmer selling a cow into a pet shop.
We need *thousands* of West Virginia animal owners calling their
legislators, telling them "NO on SB 137, SB 277, HB 2620, and HB
2635!"
I'll be posting more 'what to do' within a couple of days.
West Virginia is lucky to have an active state list run by Colby
Homer. We have good support from exotic animal folks and others
-- but we need even more. Let's pitch in and help them dump
these bills!
Walt Hutchens
Timbreblue Whippets
Virginia
------------------------------------------------
One of the complexities of the West Virginia picture is that there are four overlapping bills to deal with. Good grief, what a mess. However, after a couple more hours of study, what's clear is that all of these bills are bad and need to be beaten. All four bills will regulate *all* sales of *all* pets and nearly all other animals; SB 137 would also regulate breeding, even without sales.
Said another way, even if only one of these bills passes (and it
does not matter very much which one) the practice of home
breeding of normal pets is over in West Virginia. Their effects on the breeding and keeping of exotic pets are more varied but are in all cases open-ended -- that is, there are no important limits on the exotic animal power of the various boards that would be created under the somewhat different approaches.
It ought to offend West Virginia taxpayers to see legislators' time wasted with crap like this. But ... let's take a closer look.
Current West Virginia law does not define 'pet shop' or any
equivalent. Thus, pet shops are currently not regulated as places that sell animals -- though I'm sure they are regulated as businesses, required to have business licenses, pay taxes,
conform to zoning laws, and so on. As we go through the bills,
the first step will be to see exactly what they would regulate.
SB 137 defines pet shops as follows:
“'Pet shop' means a facility where an animal is kept for the purpose of sale or breeding.”
That's very broad -- it covers the premises (home or other structure) of anyone who has any animal for the purpose of selling it as well as anyone who has an animal with the intent to breed it. If SB 137 were to pass you wouldn't even be able to breed for your own purposes *without* selling unless you comply with pet shop regulations.
The bill establishes a board to make rules for pet shops and a
comprehensive permit and enforcement system. There are no
distinctions in the bill about the kind of animals involved
(domesticated, exotic, dangerous ...), indeed, any farmer planing to sell a cow is a pet shop. I wonder what the farmers will think about that? The definition also includes hunters, bird and cat breeders, reptile folks ... EVERYONE is in there.
SB 277 defines pet shops thusly:
“'Pet shop' means a facility where an animal is kept for the purpose of sale. The term excludes a facility subject to the
provisions of articles twenty or twentythree of this chapter ..."
Article twenty regulates dogs and cats; the only 'facilities'
mentioned are kennels, pounds and animal shelters. Article
twenty-three covers racing of horses and dogs and the facilities are stables, dog racing kennels and racetracks. Thus it seems that SB 277 would regulate anything that wasn't a kennel, shelter, pound, stable or track, including all of the usual meanings of 'pet shop' *and* anyone who as a hobbyist (farmer ...) sells any animal for any reason.
(The 'seems' is because articles twenty and twenty-three are long and complicated; I can't guarantee that I've found every 'facility' mentioned there. But there's no sign of anything overlapping the usual meaning of 'pet shop.')
This bill creates a three member 'exotic animal regulation board' with a nine-member technical advisory committee. As usual the board would have the power to write regulations for the legislature to approve or it could (if it wishes) call the situation an emergency so legislative approval isn't needed. But pet fanciers won't have to wait for the writing of regulations because of this:
"§19-9B-9. Pet shop registration required. Effective the first day of January, two thousand six, no person shall operate a pet shop in
this state unless he or she has registered with the Board."
There's a fee and record keeping is required. For exotic animals
the board can seize the animal and do exactly as it pleases, at the owner's expense. If you don't want to pay expenses in advance, then too bad -- the animal belongs to them.
SB 277 is the most carefully written of the four bills; except for requiring registration of anyone who sells any animal, it sticks to regulating exotic animals. However, because of the broad pet shop provisions, it is unacceptable, regardless of whether the exotic stuff is okay or not.
HB 2620 takes an altogether different approach. Rather than
saying what it would regulate, this bill would create a board called the "West Virginia Exotic and Domestic Animal Control Board" with broad regulatory powers. Regarding the board, the bill says its purpose is: "establishing duties; providing rule-making authority; requiring all sellers of animals to register; authorizing inspections; providing for testing, seizing and quarantining animals; and establishing criminal penalties." That about covers it, wouldn't you say? Again, the board may may make 'emergency' rules.
Further down, the HB 2620 also establishes the "West Virginia
Exotic and Domestic Animal Control Study Commission" and
says:
"(e) The Commission shall:
(1) Study the need for additional regulation in the area of domestic and exotic animal control in West Virginia, including but not limited to:
(A) Evaluating current applicable animal control and tracking law as to domestic and exotic animals;
(B) Creating a full and complete list of animals and species to be regulated by legislation; Suggesting standards for the possession, breeding, importation, transportation, care and treatment of domestic and
exotic animals;"
HB 2620 takes the cake for the messiest piece of legislation I've seen this year and ought to be opposed on those grounds alone. But no bill that just says "We're gonna create a board and give them power to do 'whatever'" should be passed.
Finally (and thank the Lord for that), HB 2635 differs only in details from SB 277.
An overall comment: All of these bills give far, FAR too much
power to unelected bueaucrats. If West Virginia does need to
regulate exotic animals then a law should create an appropriate
board to write regulations which should be approved by the
legislature. The 'emergency' stuff ought to be out of there -- WV has been around a few years without an exotic emergency and can probably get by for the two years it would take to write regs and get them approved. That approval process would include a public comment period and usually a hearing; the actual approval would be done by people you elect -- and can unelect if they don't do good work on regulation approval.
Why don't we deal with traffic violations by establishing a "Traffic Violations Board" with the power to make any regulations, establish and enforce any penalties it wants ... ? Heck, why not just give traffic cops the power to say what the speed limit is and what the fine is for speeding? Because this is the United States of America, that's why. We don't give bureaucrats large amounts of power to do whatever they like. We give them specific laws and regulations that have gone through a public approval process and we give them as little discretion as possible, so citizens are protected from the incompetent and even nasty people that sometimes get those (or any) jobs.
Taken together these bills present a picture of an AR
establishment that has a new idea for grabbing power over all
animals. "Let's proclaim an emergency situation with African Lions being sold on streetcorners." Baloney. Regulating maybe 10,000 ordinary pet breeders by proclaiming the need to regulate the handful of people who might sell a dangerous animal and trying to do the whole thing without going through normal rulemaking would be a tasteless joke, if it weren't fundamentally corrupt.
Walt Hutchens
Timbreblue Whippets
Virgina
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The 4 Bills needing a NO
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Reply
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by tenneseejed on March 27, 2005
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Mail this to a friend!
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I thought it would be good to include it here, just to make sure everyone sees it!
SB 277, SB 137, HB 2620, HB 2635 are the four bills for which legislators need to hear NO.
On 03/17, SB 277(Creating Animal Regulation Act) was passed in the Senate Agriculture committe and sent to the Senate Finance Committee. It is the same as HB2635. You can read the text here. http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTM.../RS/BILLS/sb277 intr.htm
Four of it's five sponsors are on this committee. The West VA's legislative session will go through April 9. This is a nasty bill.
There is a Yahoo group for West Virginia at
:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WestVirginiaPetLaw/
The group has also asked for our assistance in contacting the Senate Finance Committee through faxes, e-mail, calls, etc. I have listed the contact info below.
Senate Finance Committee Members
(D) Helmick - Chair
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7980
email: whelmick@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) Sharpe - Vice Chair
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7845
Business Phone: 622-4681
Fax: 622-2752
(D) Bailey
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7807
Business Phone: 294-8800
email: bwbailey@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) Bowman
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7918
Fax: 723-1473
email: jwazell@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) Chafin
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7808
Business Phone: 235-2221
Fax: 327-9178
email: htchafin@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) Edgell
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7827
Business: 455-2291
Fax: 455-9123
email: edgell@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) Love
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7849
Fax: 469-2888
email: shlove@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) McCabe
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7990
Business Phone: 347-7500
Fax: 342-2252
email: brmccabe@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) Plymale
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7937
Business Phone: 696-7098
Fax: 696-6099
email: grays@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) Prezioso
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7961
Business Phone: 366-2483
Fax: 366-2483
email: cglagol@mail.wvnet.edu
(D) Unger
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7961
Business Phone: 285-4477
Fax: 263-3545
email: unger@mail.wvnet.edu
® Boley
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7905
Fax: 684-3266
email: donnaboley@mail.wvnet.edu
® Facemyer
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7855
Business Phone: 372-7171
email: kfacemyr@mail.wvnet.edu
® Guills
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7959
Business Phone: 645-3313
Fax: 645-3314
email: jguills@mail.wvnet.edu
® Minear
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7914
email: gmminear@aol.com
® Sprouse
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7901
Business Phone: 552-1211
Fax: 925-8895
email: vice@vicsprouse.com
® Yoder
Capitol Phone: 304/357-7957
Fax: 535-2809
email: jyoder@mail.wvnet.edu
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