| Hi Friend,
New York Assembly Bill 830 (A830) would forbid penning, caging, tethering, or restraining of dogs outside from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
A830 applies not only to pets, but also to working dogs such as Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs). LGDs have been bred to bond with the animals that they protect, and they usually stay outside with the animals 24/7.
If this bill passed, it could pose a real problem to some small farmers across New York state. Many small farmers rely on LGDs to protect their livestock or poultry flocks, with the LGDs staying in the pasture or pens with the animals during the night. Depending on how it's enforced, A830 could make the normal nighttime use of LGDs illegal.
Please take action now! And please share this alert with your friends and family in New York. |
| | | | TAKE ACTION #1
Call or email your State Assemblymember and urge him or her to OPPOSE A830 or ask that the bill be amended to exclude working dogs.
You can look up who represents you in the Assembly HERE.
Remember, calls are far more effective than emails, and they can take just a couple of minutes! Keep your call or email short, polite, and clear—you can simply give your name, identify yourself as a constituent, and ask your Assemblymember to OPPOSE the bill or ask that the bill be amended to leave out working dogs. If you have time, add a sentence or two about why this issue is important to you. See More Information, below, for some talking points that you can use. |
| | MORE INFORMATION
The bill states:
“1. It shall be unlawful to tie, tether, restrain, cage or pen a working or non-working dog outdoors, between the hours of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
2. A working or non-working dog may be tied, tethered, caged or penned outdoors between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., to a stationary object or a pen or cage in a sized pen or cage four times the height and length of said dog; provided it is in a manner that is not inhumane or detri-mental to the dog's welfare, doesn't cause the dog to choke, permits the dog to escape harm and permits the dog to reach food, water, shade and dry ground.”
Because the bill applies to a “working or non-working dog,” it could make farming with LGDs very difficult and impractical.
See more info about A830, including the full amended bill text HERE. Originally the bill was written to include all animals, which was even worse.
Talking Points:
- The most important talking point is how this bill would affect YOU. Why do you oppose this bill? Do you buy pastured poultry from a farmer that uses LGDs? Are you a small farmer who uses LGDs and is concerned about possible interpretations of the bill?
- The language of the bill is ambiguous as to whether normal use of LGDs would become illegal. LGDs have been bred to bond with the animals that they protect, and they usually stay outside with the animals 24/7. For instance, some LGDs are penned in with small livestock like poultry both day and night. Depending on the interpretation of the bill, LGDs may not be allowed to be penned at night at all.
- The bill, if passed, would pose hardships for LGD owners if they needed to confine their LGDs for whatever reason (injured, sick, etc.) because they wouldn’t be able to confine the working dogs outside.
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| | DONATE
If you’d like to make a donation to support the work of Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund to bring you these informative legislative updates and work to improve state laws, please donate HERE.
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| www.farmtoconsumer.org | 703-208-FARM (3276) | info@farmtoconsumer.org |
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