Please take the time today to fax, call or email the committee members to oppose the following bills ...
We must be heard. Please take the time out of your busy schedules on Monday to contact the necessary legislators. It doesn't take much time...PLEASE
stand up and be counted. You must act TODAY before the committee votes.
Forward, cross post at will.
There are some nasty HSUS backed bills in Tennessee that need to die. So,
on Monday, April 13, 2009, get ready to CALL, FAX, or at the very least
email the committee members (as well as your own rep) to send the strong
unified message that we are OPPOSED to these bills. The ARs do this all the
time...They stage call-in days and bombard the lawmakers with calls/faxes.
WE must do the same!
Please forward this post to any individual, group/club, groomer, pet sitter,
breeder, dog owner, anyone that can lend a few minutes to send these H$U$
bills to their grave!
Animal Forfeiture Bill, HB 0626, will be heard Tuesday, April 14, before the
House Calendar and Rules Committee
Bill Summary: In animal cruelty
prosecutions, if a defendant is ordered to post court security to pay for
expenses of caring for the animal, s/he currently has 15 business days to
come up with the money. If s/he can't do that the ownership rights are lost.
This bill will change the time limit to 72 hours, which is very little time
considering that the person will also need to find money for an attorney and
bail, and the amount of money required for the security is likely to be
considerable.
The bill will also remove the following wording: " However, if the person
from whom the animal was seized is not the owner of the animal and the
person has not posted the court-ordered security within fifteen (15) days,
the court shall order the governmental animal control agency or the humane
society to make all reasonable efforts to determine who the owner of the
animal is and to notify the owner of the pending proceeding. No animal shall
be deemed to have been abandoned and forfeited to the governmental animal
control agency or humane society until reasonable attempts to determine and
notify the owner have been made."
This wording gives rightful owners an opportunity to reclaim pets that have
been stolen or otherwise ended up in the hands of an (alleged) animal
abuser.
The take home message here is that both of the above-mentioned changes will
make it easier or more likely for an innocent person to lose his/her
animals. They also could result in overzealous prosecution and/or abuse of
process. More information concerning the problems with asset forfeiture
Innocent people DO get accused of animal abuse, and, unless they are
wealthy, they will almost certainly lose their animals and go bankrupt while
defending themselves. As our legal system is based on "innocent until proven
guilty," it would be better to have the person reimburse the costs if and
only if found guilty.
HOUSE CALENDAR AND RULES COMMITTEE MEMBERS: (please contact each member and
ask them to OPPOSE this bill. The phone/fax numbers are for their Nashville
offices)
Chair: Rep. Bill Dunn
R-Knoxville, District 16 - Part of Knox Cty: Phone (615) 741-1721 Fax (615)
253-0276
Vice-Chair: Rep. Larry Turner
D-Memphis District 85 - Part of Shelby Cty: Phone (615) 741-6954 Fax (615)
741-3144
Secretary: Rep. Matthew Hill
R-Jonesborough District 7 - Part of Washington Cty: Phone: 615-741-2251
Members: Rep. Joe Armstrong Phone (615) 741-0768 Fax (615) 253-0316
46 - Cannon, Trousdale and part of Wilson Cties: Phone (615) 741-7086 Fax
R-Knoxville District 19 - Part of Knox Cty: Phone (615) 741-6879 Fax (615)
253-0212
;Rep. Kent Coleman D-Murfreesboro District 49 - Part of Rutherford Cty:
Rep. John J. Deberry JR. D-Memphis District 90 - Part of Shelby Cty: Phone
(615) 741-2239 Fax (615) 253-0294
Part of Shelby Cty: Phone (615) 741-3830 Fax (615) 741-3992
District 82 - Lauderdale, Crockett and part of Dyer Cties: Phone (615)
741-2134 Fax (615) 741-1446
Sequatchie, Van Buren, Grundy and Marion Cties: Phone (615) 741-6849 Fax
R-Nashville District 56 - Part of Davidson Cty: Phone (615) 741-0709 Fax
(615) 741-4917
57 - Part of Sumner and Wilson Cties: Phone (615) 741-7462 Fax (615)
R-Tullahoma District 47 - Coffee and part of Warren Cties: Phone (615)
741-7448 Fax (615) 253-0226
Parts of Blount and Sevier Cties: Phone (615) 741-5481 Fax (615) 253-0220
McCormick R-Chattanooga District 26 - Part of Hamilton Cty: Phone (615)
McManus R-Cordova District 96 - Part of Shelby Cty: Phone (615) 741-1920 Fax
D-Joelton District 50 - Part of Davidson Cty: Phone (615) 741-4317 Fax (615)
253-0360
3 - Johnson and part of Sullivan Cties: Phone (615) 741-2050 Fax (615)
District 55 - Part of Davidson Cty: Phone (615) 741-4410 Fax (615) 741-7528
Part of Shelby Cty: Phone (615) 741-1866 Fax (615) 532-8221
District 84 - Parts of Shelby Cty: Phone (615) 741-2189 Fax (615) 253-0201
Part of Davidson Cty: Phone (615) 741-3229 Fax (615) 741-4322
Republican-Elizabethton District 4 - Carter Cty: Phone (615) 741-7450 Fax
(615) 253-0310