UPDATE, 6/12/07:

Another alert regarding the Farm Bill, this time from Last Chance for Animals. Now with new and improved talking points!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Last Chance for Animals - campaigns [at] lcanimal.org
Date: Jun 12, 2007 2:32 PM
Subject: Congress to Strip State and Local Animal Welfare Laws! Take Action Now!

Urgent Action Needed! - Don’t Let Congress Undo State and Local Animal Laws!

Congress is attempting to subvert the rights of citizens by prohibiting states and localities from voting against activities concerning public health, safety, and morals!

A provision in the pending Farm Bill would overturn some of the most important animal welfare legislation passed in decades and prevent us from protecting and fighting for the rights of animals across the country!

If passed, this provision would nullify state bans on horse slaughter, bans on gestation crates in Florida and bans on both gestation and veal crates in Arizona and bans on foie gras in California and Chicago.

This is an outrageous power grab that would undermine the democratic process and deny citizens the right to pass state and local laws on issues of humane treatment or food safety.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Reach your federal legislatures by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121

After you make your calls, please follow up with an email to further encourage your legislators to keep this dangerous provision out of the Farm Bill.

Visit www.house.gov and www.senate.gov to contact your legislators.

Sample text below for phone calls and emails.

Please tell your family and friends about this issue and ask them to help!

We cannot let this happen!
Contact your representatives now!

Sample Text

Hello, my name is [your name] and I am a constituent from [your town]. I am calling today to urge [your representative’s name] to oppose any effort to preempt state and local laws through the Section 123 of the pending Farm Bill. It would prevent states and localities from passing laws to protect animals from inhumane treatment to protect food safety. When citizens decide a practice is too cruel or dangerous to allow in their state, Congress has not business forcing them to allow it. Thank you.

For the Animals,

Campaigns Department
Last Chance for Animals

Last Chance for Animals | 8033 Sunset Blvd. #835 | Los Angeles | CA | 90046

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jun 11, 2007 9:29 PM
Subject: DawnWatch Alert: Pending legislation that endangers almost all animal-friendly legislation 6/11/07

There is a saying: “One person can do almost anything. No person can do everything.” That’s why DawnWatch focuses strictly on media and almost never sends out alerts that are not media based. I make an exception today in order to tell people about a piece of legislation that could undo all of the good work so many others have done on the legislative front. There is a provision tucked into the pending Farm Bill designed to prohibit states and localities from banning activities they deem to be contrary to public health, safety, or morals. If it passes, it will nullify gains made by activists across the 50 states.

If you respond to just one alert this year, please make it this one, so that others can keep fighting.

Please read the alert below from HSUS and take five minutes to make two phone calls and send two emails. Your five minutes will enable activists to continue to devote their lives to easing animal suffering.

Here is the HSUS alert:

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Don’t Let Congress Undo State and Local Animal Laws

Dear Friend,

Some of our most important victories for animals have been state laws barring cruel practices—such as horse slaughter, confining young calves and breeding pigs in crates so small they can’t even turn around, and force-feeding of ducks and geese to make foie gras. Should Congress be able to block all such laws? Tell your federal legislators NO!

The federal government shouldn’t be able to trump the will of the states when it comes to animal welfare. Yet that’s exactly what legislation now making its way through Congress would do. A small provision—Section 123—tucked into the pending Farm Bill would prohibit states and localities from banning activities they deem to be contrary to public health, safety, or morals. It’s an outrageous power grab that would undermine the democratic process and deny citizens the right to pass state or local laws on issues of humane treatment or food safety.

If passed, this provision would nullify bans on horse slaughter in states including Illinois, Texas and California, bans on gestation crates in Florida and both gestation and veal crates in Arizona, and bans on foie gras in California and Chicago. Tell Congress not to mess with state and local animal protection laws!

TAKE ACTION

Please take a moment to make brief, polite phone calls to your federal legislators about this issue. You can reach your federal legislators by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or go to community.hsus.org/humane/leg-lookup/search.html to find their Capitol office phone numbers.

Making a phone call is easy. You will speak to a staff person who can take your message and pass it along to your legislator. You can say:

“Hello, my name is [your name] and I’m a constituent from [your town and state]. I’m calling to urge [your legislator’s name] to oppose any effort to preempt state and local laws through the Farm Bill. I’m very alarmed about Section 123 of the pending House Farm Bill, which would prevent states and localities from passing laws to protect animals from inhumane treatment and to protect food safety. When citizens decide a practice is too cruel or dangerous to allow in their state, Congress has no business forcing them to allow it. Thank you.”

After you make your calls, please send a follow-up email to further encourage your legislators to keep this dangerous provision out of the Farm Bill. Go to community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2007_farmbill/ to send your emails.

Finally, please tell your friends and family about this important issue and ask them to help. We need lots of calls and letters flooding Congress right away to stop this awful legislation. You’ll find a form that helps you send the alert on to friends at community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2007_farmbill/forward/.

Thank you for all that you do for animals!

Sincerely,

Mike Markarian
Executive Vice President
The Humane Society of the United States

(End of HSUS alert)

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(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited — leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

To discontinue DawnWatch alerts go to www.DawnWatch.com/nothanks.php

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare action alerts dawnwatch HSUS Humane Society of the United States farm bill section 123 state’s rights federal government state government environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist legislation powers food safety horse slaughter lca Last Chance for Animals