Taking Action for Animals throughout West Virginia

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FOHO WV
FOHO WV Promoting Animal Welfare throughout West Virginia.

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Spay Neuter Assistance Program, West Virginia - check here for matching grant funding for spay neuter assistance.

Newsflash

SB 225 been assigned to interim study in the House Agriculture Committee. The Petfood Institute wrote a letter of opposition to the bill on Friday 5th. Although they sell $119 million dollars worth of pet food in West Virginia, they were not about to allow $106,000 come into a statewide spay neuter fund. Even if they passed on the cost to the pet owner, it would have been .40 cents per year, per household. The Dept of Agriculture decided to support the Pet Food Industry over the taxpayers of West Virginia.

NH, NYS, ME, GA, DE just to name a few states have Departments of Agriculture that actively support statewise spay neuter initiatives. While companion animals come under the watch of the Dept. of Agriculture in WV, they have been largely ignored.
Let Gus Douglas douglass@ag.state.wv.us and Gov. Joe Manchin Governor@wvgov.org know how much this funding is needed. Let's join other states in solving this problem.
Thumbs up to the WV Senate for passing this bill!

This bill would have established the Spay/Neuter fund for WV citizens needing help with the cost of having their dogs and cats fixed. This is not a tax on the consumer. The money comes from a small surcharge added onto the permit/license fee already being paid by pet food companies to sell their product in our state. The state of Maine has a similar law. A recent survey has found that in WV, 49% of dogs and 77% of cats entering shelters are euthanized because there are not enough good homes for them. This is unacceptable when we can help to reduce the number of animals entering shelters. People really want to have their pets fixed but sometimes they just don't have the money. When they have to choose between things for the family and fixing the pet there is no choice, resulting in more animals at our shelters and more taxpayer money spent.

Facts to support this spay neuter funding proposal:

The state of Maine adopted a similar bill in 2005. In 2008, they received $127,750 for statewide spay neuter funding from this commercial food fee. Their program is a huge success. The WV amount is estimated to be approximately $106,000. Petfood sales in WV are approximately $119 million per year. The argument that the surcharge will simply be passed on to consumers has been addressed. WV has calculated that ½ the households have pets, the cost passed on to the taxpayer in increased pet food cost is approximately .40 total per year in increased pet food cost - FOHO WV
New Hampshire has had a state spay neuter program for many years. According to the International City/Council Management Association, “NH taxpayers saved about $3.23 for every dollar the state spent on the subsidized sterilization program” from ICCMA, 2001. Animal Control Management- A Guide for Local Governments; 2001.
March 2009 Petfood Industry article states, “It is reassuring to see that the market has been living up to its reputation as being recession-resistant with US sales up 6.4%... the US pet food industry's US market sales increased 5.5% in 2008 to $17 billion for the year and during the first quarter of 2009 US sales were up 6.4% to $5.9 billion....” Petfood Industry, ‘Market Report,’ March 2009, p74.

Session 2010

Tuesday, 12 January 2010 21:25
Here are the updates of the daily activity at the state legislature pertaining to animal welfare. Sylvia Shafer, who is the chief lobbyist and board member of the Kanawha/Charleston Humane Association was our primary source for this information. She spends a lot of time at the capital and will be keeping us informed about bill activity throughout the session. Our thanks also to Jeanne Guise who provided us with legislative committee contact information and also turns the bills into handy PDFs for your convenience. ____________________________________________________________________________ Daily legislative activity pertaining to animals - 2010 FOHO note* 4 animal bills passed this session. Please note that the enrolled (final) version of the bills are provided here for your convenience. 4407 - the rabies bill, 4201 - Livestock standards board, 490 - domestic violence bill with protection for pets, 337- spay neuter adopted greyhounds. March 17 HB 4407 (pdf enrolled version) which is the rabies bill was signed by the Governor today. The bill is effective 90 days from passage which was 3-8. Sylvia March 12 HB 4201 (pdf enrolled version) passed today. This bill creates a Board that will create standards for the care of livestock. One of its members will be a Humane Society member. Sylvia March 11 SB 490 (pdf enrolled version) passed the House today with amendments. I had not mentioned this bill as it a Domestic Violence bill. But the legislature is now doing something good for animals. This bill gives the animals involved protection. In part "prohibiting the respondent from taking, concealing, molesting, physically injuring, killing or otherwise disposing of the animal and limiting or precluding contact by the respondent with the animal." SB 337 (pdf enrolled version) also passed today. This bill takes some proceeds from greyhound racing to spay/neuter Greyhounds adopted from race tracks. Another great step forward. As a reminder, all bills must be signed by the Governor. Sylvia FOHO note* These are good bills so we are very pleased they passed. We commend the legislature for passing these bills. If Comm. Gus Douglass of the Dept of Agriculture had not killed SB 225 (spay neuter), we feel certain it would have passed the house. It had already passed the Senate. The legislators understood that we needed this funding. Unfortunately, the opposition of the Dept of Agriculture sealed its fate. We may have lost this battle but not the war on this issue. March 10 I guess I have been waiting for a miracle that did not happen. SB 225 which would have created the Spay/Neuter Assistance has died. It was killed by the State Dept. of Agriculture. HB 4407 changing the rabies law will be effective 90 days from the date of passage which was 3-8. A repeat vaccine must be given one year after the first one and then repeated in three years. Sylvia FOHO note* The Pet Food Institute letter in opposition to SB 225 is included here (pdf PFI Letter). It was sent to all the members of the House Agricultural Committee. Also the rebuttal to that letter by FOHO WV is included here (pdf FOHO Rebuttal to PFI). And you can read the letter from FOHO to Gus Douglass, Commissioner of Dept. of Agriculture who opposed a spay neuter solution for West Virginia. (pdf Douglass letter). A copy of this letter was also sent to Gov. Manchin. Please read the letter and send your comments to Commissioner Douglass and to Gov. Manchin expressing your dismay for the lack of support. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it We are not giving up on this initiative.
Last Updated on Sunday, 21 March 2010 00:38
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