Poop City

Pol proposes "Paw and Claw Tax"

A Republican state senator has introduced a bill that would tax products for "dogs, cats, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, and caged birds." The three percent tax would include a levy on pet food.

The Sun reports that collected revenues would go "toward financing animal shelters and wild life rehabilitators."

"When people realize the money is going to shelters, they will understand it's for a worthwhile cause," the bill's sponsor, Senator Frank Padavan, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Sounds good, especially considering Governor Spitzer's apparent distaste for animal welfare funding. A possible Spitzer veto notwithstanding, there might also be concerns that the money could someday be diverted from its intended use. But Padavan, described as "the animal protector of the Legislature," is apparently sincere.

This year, he has also introduced a bill that would ban the electrocution of fur-bearing animals and one that would prohibit canned hunts.

Of course the so-called "Paw and Claw Tax" will have to make it by politicians, including the governor and Republican Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno, who have promised no new taxes. Heaven forfend the lives of animals stand in the way of cliched political pandering.

Welfare program funds restored

This bit of news was inadvertently omitted from yesterday's P-O-R good government report.

From the ASPCA:

Thanks to your efforts, the New York legislature restored funding to two crucial animal welfare programs during last-minute negotiations to finalize a state budget by the April 1 deadline. The budget now awaits Governor Spitzer’s signature!

- The Senate and Assembly agreed to restore $150,000 to the Animal Population Control Program, which provides low-cost spay/neuter services to low-income New York pet owners and to state residents who adopt their pets from shelters and humane societies.

- Both houses also agreed to restore $100,000 to the pet dealer licensing program, which oversees licensing and inspection of pet stores and “backyard breeders” in New York State.

Governor Spitzer’s proposed budget would have diverted these funds to instead pay the salaries and fringe benefits of state employees.

Please take a moment to contact your state representatives, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and thank them for acting to ensure the integrity of these vital animal welfare and consumer protection laws.

P-O-R: Good Government Edition

NO CLASS: Democrats in the House and Senate have proposed federal legislation to prevent "Class B" animal dealers and unlicensed dealers from selling dogs and cats to research labs. "This bill," writes the ASPCA, "would eliminate the incentive for 'bunchers' - people who collect animals from random sources and sell them to Class B Dealers - to obtain dogs and cats through illegal [i.e. theft] or unethical [i.e. 'Free to Good Home' ads] means, as there would be no profit in doing so." Read the ASPCA endorsement for more details about S. 714/H.R. 1280, the Pet Safety and Protection Act. And, most important, be sure to contact your Senators and Representative (click here if you aren't sure how or who).

PROPERTY RIGHTS: New Jersey lawmakers are looking to crack down on pet food makers who release contaminated food into the marketplace. One bill, proposed by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, would require food makers to certify that their products are safe, and would hold them liable for damages if proved otherwise. Another legislator wants tighter controls on the retail level in order to ensure that recalled food doesn't remain available for sale. The New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, while applauding those efforts, believes the state should take a more holistic approach by elevating pets above "property" status.

IMBY: Support New York's own animal-defending government watchdogs by attending the League of Humane Voters of New York City spring membership meeting, tomorrow (Wednesday) at the LGBT Center (208 W. 13th St., Rm. 101, 6:30 p.m.). Come for the animals, stay for the animal-free pizza.

Ban "tethering," not pit bulls

District 22 Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) was already causing a stir with his proposed ban on pit bulls, and understandably so. But opposition to his latest proposed pet legislation - restrictions on outdoor "tethering" - is as hard to parse as the proposal itself.

Under Vallone's proposal, Newsday reports, pet guardians who leave a dog tied outside for more than three hours during a 12-hour period would be subject to a warning, followed by a $250 fine for a second offense. Vallone is also considering a ban on outdoor "tethering" between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

What could be wrong with that? Plenty, say some. According to the Dog Federation of New York - which is organizing against both the pit bull ban and tethering regs - such restrictions would punish "responsible" caretakers, including poor and minority pet parents.

Maybe I'm missing something, but what responsible pet guardian of any income level or background would leave his or her dog chained up for more than three hours in a day - much less leave a dog chained outside overnight? Considering just two very recent cases of dogs tied or caged outside and left to freeze or starve to death, it's high time for an anti-"tethering" law.

That said, suspicion of Vallone's motivation is warranted. Though he calls himself an "animal rights activist" and "animal lover," his record doesn't completely bear that out.

In addition to his maliciously ignorant assault on an entire breed of dog, Vallone hasn't always come to the aid of animals - even domestic animals - when presented the opportunity to do so. The councilman scored 60 out of 100 on the latest scorecard from the League of Humane Voters of New York City. Though certainly not the worst on the council - Speaker Christine Quinn rates a shameful zero - Vallone has yet to get behind what is possibly the LOHV's highest local legislative priority: the Pets in Housing Bill, which would save animals' lives by ensuring that no-pet lease clauses, once waived, can not be reinstated during a tenant's residency.

Backing such a rule would seem a no-brainer for someone who calls himself an "animal lover," much less an "activist," but the fact that Vallone is not a sponsor of the languishing Pets in Housing law casts doubt on the purity of his intentions.

No more so, however, than the opposition by a group of "caring" pet "owners" to another law that would dramatically improve, not to mention save, the lives of countless dogs, shackled all day every day, who can only watch in longing as the world passes them by.

Photo: UnchainYourDog.org

Spitzer: Come to New York, Kill Something

Eliot Spitzer seems to have it in for New York's animal population.

Even as he plans to divert tax moneys from crucial (and already under funded) spay-neuter and welfare enforcement efforts, the governor wants to pump (no pun intended - really) additional state resources into promoting hunting and fishing, which he believes will boost tourism revenue.

For those of us who don't see how slaughtering unarmed animals qualifies as recreation, much less as "sport," that might be bad enough. But Spitzer wants to up the ante - way, way up.

As part of his outdoor agenda, Spitzer said no new gun law will be adopted without hunting group consultation ...

Naturally, the gun nuts are overjoyed at their luck, if a little suspicious - since Spitzer was previously sort of against the proliferation of firearms. Says Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association:

"If you go back to Gov. Spitzer's record as attorney general, he attempted to limit gun ownership in many ways. For him to do a broad initiative like this is really a very good thing for the hunters of New York state."

Could be that this is a ploy to get the hunting lobby to back down on its opposition to Spitzer's choice to head the Department of Environmental Conservation, Assemblyman Alexander "Pete" Grannis.

Certainly there must be some logic behind it, but until Governor Spitzer's endgame becomes apparent, I think I'll go back and see if I can find exactly when Candidate Spitzer promised to hand over the asylum to the inmates.

Related:
- ASPCA calls for action in re welfare budget cuts. [ASPCA]

Still undecided in the 40th

Strange doings in Brooklyn’s City Council District 40.

A special election held last month to replace Yvette Clarke, now a congresswoman, saw Clarke endorsee Mathieu Eugene walk away with the seat. Then questions about Eugene’s residency cropped up - i.e. there were (and are) doubts as to whether he even lived in the district at the time of the election. These doubts are serious enough that his swearing in has been delayed, yet the Eugene camp is refusing to provide proof of residency, claiming their man is being singled out due to his Haitian heritage.

All this is relevant in Poop City due to the fact that another District 40 candidate, Zenobia McNally, was endorsed by the League of Humane Voters as an advocate on animal welfare issues, including Intro. 13, which continues to languish (hello Mr. Mayor). Perhaps more relevant, since McNally was not one of the top finishers on election day: Eugene was the only candidate to blow off the LOHV, declining to be interviewed or even return its questionnaire. And that’s just rude.

The Daily Gotham - which, as it happens, also endorsed McNally - is all over this developing story. Read the latest here.

UPDATE 3/9:
- Eugene calls for second election. [NY1]

Spitzer steamrolls puppies and kittens

During his run for governor, Eliot Spitzer railed against many things: influence peddling, inefficient administration, entrenched bureaucracy, et cetera, et cetera.

While it’s likely that most voters - including yours truly - missed out on at least some speechifying, it’s a safe bet that Candidate Spitzer never drew applause by declaring himself an enemy of the state’s cat and dog population.

Yet the ASPCA reports that, as part of his first budget, the governor is now looking to carve $150,000 from the state’s Low Cost Spay-Neuter Program, which has funded operations for animals adopted by low-income New Yorkers since 1997.

Spitzer also wants to take $100,000 from the pet dealer license fee pot - fees used to help keep pet stores and dog breeders in compliance with under-enforced animal welfare and consumer protection laws. Such a hit would “essentially deplete” the fund, says the ASPCA. The governor reportedly wants to devote the money to unspecified “fringe benefits for state employees.”

For directions on letting Spitzer and other state officials know this is a bad idea, click.

Related:
- Spitzer defends "right" to cruelty. [NYS]

United we scoop, divided we leash

The future of the city's public park leash policy is now in the hands of the parks department, following a fittingly wild hearing last Thursday, which saw opposing factions accuse each other of falsifying signatures on an online petition.

Seems opponents of codifying "unofficial" off-leash hours produced a petition with over 4,000 allegedly fraudulent signatures - which they reportedly accused pro-off-leashers of generating in an attempt to render the entire petition invalid. Anti-off-leashers have also implied that pro-off-leashers stacked their own petition with fictitious names. All of which begs the question: Does anyone really pay attention to online petitions?

Meanwhile, a much more civilized discussion is taking place on the subject of dog poop, and the fines inherent upon the act of not scooping same. In other words, most randomly approached New Yorkers seem to agree that increasing the fine for leaving a dog's leavings - from $100 to $250 - is a fine idea. This is a good thing, since Mayor Bloomberg supports the hike and will make it law regardless.

Graphic: NY Post

Felony Schmelony

When I was exec editor of an alternative weekly paper in Georgia, I wrote a couple of stories about classified ads which appeared in the local daily. The ads in question were obviously placed by pit bull breeders who were selling the dogs for fighting - a fact related to the paper by the local animal control department, whose officers had called the numbers in the ads, posing as potential buyers, to confirm their suspicions.

Despite the fact that dogfighting is, believe it or not, a felony in Georgia, the paper refused to pull the original ads, and even continued to take new ones. Not only that, the esteemed publisher testily - okay, angrily - defended the practice to me during an interview (which I tape recorded and printed verbatim). Basically, his point was that his paper had no control over how people (i.e. paying advertisers) used his paper's classified section, and if any laws were being violated, well, that was out of his paper's control and was a matter for the authorities.

Which brings us to this excellent item from NYCityPets, calling attention to the startling news that ubiquitous online retailer Amazon.com is a purveyor of videos and magazines that promote animal fighting. Due to pressure from the Humane Society of the United States - which is suing Amazon over its refusal to remove two cockfighting rags from its inventory - the bookseller has apparently pulled one title: the dog fighting vid "Unleashed."

According to Randi Bildner at The Pit Stop, "approximately 20 dogs were wounded, tortured or killed" during the filming of "Unleashed."

Cockfighting is against the law in every state except Louisiana and New Mexico. Yet Amazon is standing its ground on the cockfighting mags - which are apparently replete with advice on how to set up and maintain your very own stable of drugged up and mutilated birds - declaring itself a protector of free speech.

My publisher friend would be proud.

In other news:
- Eugene wins in 40. [NYT]
- Treating pets as luggage is unsafe and inhumane - but if you insist ... [Animal House]
- Slope Street TNR numbers higher than thought. [SSC]
- Introducing Detective Lenny Briscoe the Cat. [423smith]

Key BK council election tomorrow

On Tuesday, voters in Brooklyn's District 40 (Kensington, Prospect-Lefferts, Ditmas Park, parts of Crown Heights, Flatbush, and East Flatbush) will have the opportunity to elect a pro-companion animal candidate to City Council.

Community organizer and advocate Zenobia McNally is running for the seat vacated by Yvette Clarke, who was elected to Congress. If elected, McNally has promised to support Intro 13, the Pets in Housing Bill, which would ensure that no-pet lease clauses, once waived, can not be reinstated during a tenant's residency. She also favors the foie gras ban opposed by Governor Spitzer, as well as humane education and awareness programs.

McNally has been endorsed by the League of Humane Voters, and received a thumbs-up from SuperVegan, which has a video of a recent McNally speech. As always, vote early and often.

Related:
- Education chair signs on to humane ed. resolution. [LOHV]

In other news:
- Eyes opened to deaf dogs. [NYT]
- Slope Street Cats TNR 225 in two years. [TGL]
- BARC ponders guerrilla marketing. [BARC Blog]
- Pets preferred to potential mates. [Gothamist] 

Photo: Zenobia McNally and Savannah