Today at Big Cat Rescue May 24 2013

Dear Florida Animal Advocates,

This year’s state legislative session wound to a close earlier this month, and I wanted to thank you for all you did to give animals a voice in the Florida Legislature.

You made phone calls, sent emails, and many of you even met with your legislators in person during Florida Humane Lobby Day to let them know that you care about animal welfare. And your efforts paid off! The Legislature passed a bill (H.B. 851) that:

makes animal fighting offenses punishable under Florida’s anti-racketeering law, which helps law enforcement crack down on this brutal blood sport;
specifies that a person who commits multiple acts of animal cruelty may be charged with separate offenses for each cruel act; and
reenacts Florida’s ban on the artificial coloring of rabbits and chicks and prohibits the sale of these baby animals.

We sincerely thank the representatives and senators who made certain this legislation passed into law, with special thanks owed to Representative Jared Moskowitz of Broward County for his leadership. This new law is absolutely an improvement, but our work is far from complete!

Next year, a major focus will be ending dog racing through the decoupling of Greyhound racing from other forms of gambling. Right now, Florida law requires businesses with gambling licenses to also operate Greyhound tracks. This forced union of two unrelated forms of gambling makes no sense and inflicts unnecessary cruelty on Greyhounds, who spend their racing lives confined cruelly, suffer terrible injuries, and often are killed once they are no longer profitable.

Please contact your legislators now to let them know that you strongly oppose the cruel practice of dog racing. Making contact now, when they are not totally immersed in the legislative session, will help set the stage for humane action in 2014!

Again, thank you so much for your efforts to protect animals in this great state. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish for animals next year.

Until next time,

Ann Church, ASPCA
Vice President, State Affairs