Tag: California Animal Association

Just How Influential Is the California Animal Association?

In January, animal rights groups in California banded together to form a new statewide umbrella organization, the California Animal Association, to lobby the state for animal rights-related legislation. So how effective is the new organization?

Well, in March the California Animal Association sent out an alert asking activists to contact California legislators to support California Senate Bill 662 — a bill the CAA is pushing which would amend California’s animal slaughter statutes to cover poultry. Various animal interests, including the Farm Bureau and California’s own Department of Food and Agriculture in turn oppose the bill on the grounds that it would simply be too expensive to include poultry under auspices of the state’s slaughter laws.

So far, however, the bill’s sponsor, Carol Migden, can’t even be persuaded to hold a hearing on the bill. Twice a hearing on the measure has been scheduled, and each time the hearing has been canceled at the request of Migden.

The bill is such a high priority for Migden that she doesn’t even bother to include it on her website among a list of current legislation she’s sponsoring, though she does such important item as a bill she’s sponsoring to increase fines for traffic violations that occur on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Clearly they’re holding politicians’ feet to the fire on animal issues.

The full text of California Senate Bill 662 can be read here.

Source:

Letters of Support Needed on SB 662. Press Release, California Animal Association,

California Activist Groups Form State Association

A number of animal rights groups in California have banded into a new statewide coalition, the California Animal Association, to “represent the interest of animals at the [California] state capitol.”

A press release sent out by the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights announcing the formation of the group said,

After more than a year of planning, CAA was formed to bring a stronger and more cohesive voice for animal protection to Sacramento. Many of the animal welfare and animal rights groups involved in CAA have individually or in small groups worked on legislation to strengthen animal protection laws or to defeat legislation that weakens protections for animals with California.

The members of the coalition include: American Anti-Vivisection Society, Animal Legislative Action Network, Animal Place, Animal Protection Institute, Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, California Animal Defense and Anti-Vivisection League, California Lobby for Animal Welfare, Doctors for Kindness to Animals, Farm Sanctuary, In Defense of Animals, Last Chance for Animals, Orange County People for Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, The Paw Project, United Animal Nations, United Poultry Concerns and Viva! USA.

Source:

Animals gain strong and unprecedented voice in Sacramento. Teri Barnato, Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, Press Release, January 12, 2005.