FAKC Annual Meeting Sunday 8/8 in Orlando

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Officer Elections Are Scheduled

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FAKC's annual meeting is set for Sunday, August 8, 2010 at the International Palms Resort & Conference Center Orlando, 6515 International Drive, Orlando, telephone 800-354-8332.

The meeting begins at 10:00 A.M.  All member clubs are urged to send a delegate to this important annual meeting.  The agenda will include the election of officers for the 2010-2011 yearly term, as well as presentations on dog legislation and disaster planning and relief.

The hotel is the same location as the past two FAKC annual meetings.

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Jax Council Bill Will Ban Hobby Breeders

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Call, Write Council Members

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Attend Committee Meetings

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The Jacksonville city council is considering an horrendous anti-breeder ordinance which would effectively ban hobby breeders. It calls for breeders with over 6 intact dogs or cats over 8 weeks old to pay $100.00 per animal for an annual "excessive intact animal permit". Breeders with between 21 and 40 intact dogs/cats would pay $200.00 for each animal over the first 20.

Other provisions in the ordinance include:

-- Prohibiting housing more than 40 intact dogs or cats over the age of eight weeks on a property.

-- Defining "occasional selling" to mean selling, trading or giving away more than 5 animals per year. Anyone who sells 6 or more animals in a year will be considered an "animal dealer" and held to standards written for pet stores and breeders who sell at wholesale.

-- Requiring that "animal dealers" allow animal control to inspect their premises at any time and without a warrant.

-- Defining "baiting" to "mean to `face off' two or more animals; to have two or more animals in close proximity while restrained to simulate a fight or aggression superiority..." This would prohibit the practice in terrier conformation shows whereby two terriers are brought face-to-face to assess their posture and evaluate the likelihood that the dog would perform the breed's function in hunting vermin.

-- Requiring that owners found not guilty of violations pay boarding and other fees associated with the care of the animals, even though their animals would have been improperly seized, and may in fact force owners to relinquish or euthanize beloved pets due to an inability to pay.

All pet owners in Duval County are urged to attend upcoming City Council meetings and write respective letters or emails to the councilmen. Click here for council members' names, telephone numbers, and email addresses. Their mailing address is Jacksonville City Council, City Hall, 117 West Duval St., Suite 425, Jacksonville, FL 32202.

Committee meetings on this measure are:
-- Monday August 2: Rules Committee, 10 a.m. City Council Chamber
-- Monday August 2: Transportation, Energy & Utilities Committee 2 p.m. Conf Rm A
-- Tuesday August 3: Finance Committee 10 a.m. Conf Rm A
-- Tuesday August 3: Public Health & Saftey 2 P.M. Council Chamber.

The final vote on the measure is set for August 10.

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NAIA Trust Wins a Battle in War Against Volusia County
Over Anti-Breeder Ordinance

NAIA Trust has won a procedural victory in its lawsuit against Volusia County over its 2008 ordinance which strictly regulates “hobby breeders” and allows for warrantless searches of breeders residences. The ordinance, which applies to un-incorporated areas of the county, requires hobby breeders to obtain licenses from the county and to consent to searches of their homes without any notice or cause.

The federal judge has issued a key ruling permitting the case to go forward to trial. The court found that, NAIA Trust's plaintiffs have standing to sue, stating: "Plaintiffs allege that they are being subjected to unequal treatment and that the county may not force them to waive their 4th Amendment rights as a condition of licensure. "...[T]he court finds that plaintiffs may pursue their claims even without having made a formal license application."

Patti Strand, National Director of NAIA Trust, said "This is what we've been waiting for and we feel very optimistic. Finally we can take the search and seizure issue, the mandatory spay/neuter issue, and all of our other concerns to trial.

NAIA Trust asserts in its complaint that the ordinance is unconstitutionally discriminatory in that it does not regulate commercial breeders or pet shops. NAIA also alleges that forcing hobby breeders to consent to warrantless searches without notice violates both the federal and state constitutions.

It seeks to enjoin Volusia County from enforcing this unconstitutional ordinance. Hopefully, this lawsuit will send a message to other Florida counties and municipalities that passing such stormtrooper laws and violating breeders’ basic constitutional rights will be met with challenges in court. Anti-pet county commissioners in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties also have enacted similar overreaching laws, and pro-H$U$/PETA legislators in other Florida jurisdictions are considering doing so.

Now the real fight begins. The goal is to stop the march of unconstitutional animal laws that empower the government and private groups to take our animals and sell them at a profit without just cause, or force us to perform life altering surgeries on our pets without due process. This is a battle that must be fought. The alternative is to allow our powerful opponents to prevail by outspending us and bleeding our resources while they usurp our constitutional rights.

NAIA Trust needs your contributions to fund this very expensive lawsuit and its other work in opposing anti-pet legislation now pending in the Florida legislature. Click here to make a secure on-line contribution.

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Read the Sheer Ignorance of Some Florida State Legislators

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Altman, Storms, Hall Need A-Talkin' To!

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They Blame the Breed -- Not the Owners!

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These quotes are from recent media reports on SB 1276 and HB 543:

Sen. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne: "There's a fundamental difference in the types of breeds and the way they behave. I don't think we should outlaw specific breeds, but it doesn't make any sense to force our local governments to treat Chihuahuas the same as a pit bull."

Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jax: "We're talking about pit bulls. That's the genesis of the problem we've been having."

Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico: "If Sugar [her mother's Maltese] bit my hand, it was a bummer, but I could just go wash my hand. "A pit bull will bite into its victims and not let go."

If pit bulls were people, these legislators would be racists!

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From H$U$'s Wayne Pacelle's Playbook:

“We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.”

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FAKC’s War Room is where to go to battle anti-pet legislation. All of your weapons are there for you to send your messages to your legislators:

• The Actual Bills & Ordinances
• Talking Points for Your Letters
• How to Word Them Diplomatically
• Your Legislators’ Names & Addresses & Emails
• Write Letters to Newspapers & Other Media

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