Anti-Dog Breeder Bill Passes Virginia House

Dear SAOVA Friends,

I’m temporarily filling in for Susan Wolf, who is recovering from surgery. The Humane Society of the U.S. HB538 “commercial” breeder measure passed the Virginia House on 2/12/2008. It will clear our Senate within days. HSUS is about to gain in Virginia what it couldn’t in years of Washington lobbying the Santorum Pet Animal Welfare Statute - (AKA PAWS). VAPAWS (HB538) requires hobby dog breeder licensing and inspection for anyone selling puppies at retail as well as wholesale, if they’re over a certain size. Virginia has an early, very short and frenetic legislative session. Its 2008 agenda included over 30 animal rightist supported bills. HB538 was HSUS’s top priority. Read the story »

Red/Blue, Left/Right, Urban/Rural, Right/Wrong, Elite/Common, Smart/Dumb, Progressive/Backward

These lines have been drawn in the sand many times, probably since the beginning of time but I think today those drawing the lines are being more vocal about it and the lines are getting deeper and bolder. These days we dare not “profile”, once referred to as stereotyping, because it is deemed politically incorrect or socially unacceptable by the PC police. The trouble we get into when profiling other people isn’t so much that we are perhaps helping to define that person or group of persons but that we begin to look down our noses at them because they are different. My, we’ve come a long way haven’t we. Read the story »

Virginia Game Officials Want To Preserve Hound Hunting “Done The Right Way!”

By Tom Remington

In an article I posted the other day, I said that the state of Virginia was beginning work on dealing with hunting with hounds. I told you that I had contacted the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to get some questions answered about the hound hunting issue.

I spoke by telephone with Bob Duncan, Wildlife Division Director, who was kind enough to answer my questions and relate to me the position of the VDIGF on the issue of hound hunting. Read the story »

Early Morning Gobblers

By Patrick Murphy of Rocky Mount, NC

6am finds me on schedule to my first listening location. The air is cool and sharp, there’s no wind. The thick smoke from my breath hovers around my head as I stop to listen. It seems thick enough to convince me it’s hampering my hearing, so I tip toe and listen rather then stand still.

Then it comes…the first gobble. I’m immediately 15 minutes late now, he’s a long ways. It takes forever, dodging the gauntlet of deer in route slows me down even more. As I close the distance, I know exactly where he’s at and the tree I’m gonna call home for the morning. Read the story »