APHIS Rule Update - Sign the NEW petition

SAOVA friends,

We’ve been beating the drum since May to raise awareness and opposition against the APHIS Proposed Rule which will severely impact tens of thousands of dog, cat, and small animal breeders.

A number of ag sites, including Drovers/CattleNetwork news source and the Pork Network, have recently carried the commentary and opposition statement from the Animal Agriculture Alliance. Their statement reads, “The Animal Agriculture Alliance opposes the proposed change to the definition of “pet retail store” as it has the potential to expand burdensome regulations on some farm operations, negatively impact youth agriculture programs, and expand federal inspector access beyond the scope of USDA’s authority on livestock farms.” Read more..

Also this week The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, as part of its Sporting Dog Defense Coalition, posted their intent to submit comments to APHIS concerning the proposed rule. Jeremy Rine explains that the rule matters to sportsmen “because it is part of the BIG animal rights "divide and conquer" strategy. Each effort by these groups is meant to regulate more and more dog owners, not just the "puppy mills" they claim to be after. Their next move could be removing the hunting dog breeder exemption altogether.”

The comment period for the proposed APHIS rule regulating retail sellers ends on August 15.

Sportsmen and hunters please do not sit this one out! After decades of battling the HSUS anti-hunting agenda you should know this animal rights game by heart. HSUS will not rest until sportsmen, houndsmen, animal owners and producers alike are crushed by regulation. Surely you remember the quote from HSUS leader, Wayne Pacelle, “Our opponents say that hunting is a tradition. We say traditions can change.”

Considering how furiously the animal rights lobby is attacking from all sides this year, the quote could just as easily read, “Our opponents say that animal husbandry is a tradition … we say traditions can change.”

THREE ACTION STEPS TO TAKE NOW
Post comments against the rule directly at the federal portal.

Add your organization to the SAOVA Opposition List. Send an email signed by an officer of the organization stating opposition to Susan Wolf: cubhill@earthlink.net. Please include organization's address.

SIGN THE NEW PETITION. Ask Congress to INVESTIGATE APHIS and the process by which it submitted this Proposed Rule to regulate pet sellers — and request this Proposed Rule be withdrawn. APHIS did not fulfill its statutory duty as required by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to perform an adequate assessment of the impact of the Rule, consult with the appropriate agencies, or provide reliable information to the public for purposes of a public comment period. Petition is at GoPetition.com

The Endangered Species Service? Obama Administration Deal Forces Questionable ESA Listings

An important message from U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, Friday, July 22, 2011 3:44:00 PM

By Bill Horn, Director of Federal Affairs
While debt ceiling talks and the stalled economy dominant Washington, D.C., the pot continues to boil regarding hunting and fishing issues. The Obama Administration just cut a deal with the anti-hunting activists at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) on accelerated Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings. Per the legal agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is required to consider adding 757 species, subspecies, or distinct population segments to the list of endangered or threatened species. Decisions on all 757 must be rendered by October, 2016. The list includes species that are presently fished, hunted or trapped, including golden trout, cottontail rabbits, sage grouse, fisher, and wolverine.

Obligating FWS to engage in an unprecedented level of ESA listings will require millions of dollars and eat up untold hours of agency personnel time. Other key agency programs will suffer, including operation of the National Wildlife Refuge System (and hunting, fishing, and trapping which occurs on the majority of the 553 Refuge units), migratory bird management, and fisheries restoration. USSA has always been a strong supporter of FWS and these vital conservation programs. As a former Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (overseeing FWS), I am deeply worried that the Obama-CBD deal converts FWS into the “Endangered Species Service.”

The timing on this deal looks like an effort to thwart Congressional efforts to rein in the ESA program. The House of Representatives is about to pass the Interior Department funding bill (including FWS) which severely restricts new ESA listings. The House wants the Service to use its finite money and personnel resources to focus on recovering already listed species rather than listing 757 more species (many of which are “endangered” only in the minds of anti-hunting activists). What CBD, and its Administration pals, cannot get via Congress, they want to get via this court settlement.

Interior, and FWS, are also about to get a new Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. President Obama recently nominated Rebecca Wodder to the post. She had her first (of two) Senate confirmation hearings this week. Wodder is a long time D.C. environmental activist who began her career in the late 1970’s as a staffer for Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) often considered the “father” of Earth Day. She later spent 15 years with The Wilderness Society (with whom USSA has long been fighting over wildlife management and hunting access issues) before becoming Executive Director of American Rivers in 1995. Wodder has not taken anti-hunting positions but has also not been a vocal supporter of the hunting community. We expect her to take office in September.

Stay tuned and be prepared for what will no doubt be a large and contentious issue facing all sportsmen, sportswomen, and other conservationists.