The Oregon Legislature starts its 35-day "short session" on Monday, February 5, and will consider a number of significant animal-related proposals.
Here are some of the animal-related bills we plan to support:
House Bill (HB) 4148 - a multi-issue wildlife bill that would set up and fund a number of programs to support and enhance Oregon's wildlife, including a program to promote co-existence with wildlife by addressing human-wildlife conflicts with nonlethal solutions, and further efforts to protect and restore important wildlife migration pathways.
HB 4043 - a bill to toughen laws against animal abuse and neglect and make it a crime to interfere with investigations into animal abuse and neglect.
HB 4014 - a billl to help fund nonlethal approaches to property damage caused by beavers, creating more space for beavers to live and to build dams that create habitat for other wildlife and fish.
HB 4051 - a bill to prohibit betting on dog races and require reports of abuse and injury to horses used for horse racing.
HB 4145 - a bill to prohibit creation, distribution and possession of visual displays of animal crushing.
So far, the number of bad bills appears limited, but we will likely oppose a pair of bills, HB 4107 and HB 4061, that would create an expectation of government compensation for damage caused by wildlife.
For a complete list of the bills we are tracking, our positions, and the reasons for our positions, go here. To see the full text of a bill, along with the legislators who sponsored it, the history of the bill, scheduled proceedings on the bill and other information, click on the bill number in our list.
What You Can Do
To help support good bills for animals, and oppose bad ones, please contract your state legislators and let them know which bills you support and oppose. You can send them a link to this post or write to them about the specific bills you care about the most. To find out who your state legislators are and get their contact information, click here and enter your address (you have one state representative and one state senator). When you write or call your legislators, be sure to let them know you are a "constituent," meaning you live in the area they represent and vote on whether they are elected or not.
We will also let you know of other strategic times to comment on pending legislation we consider most important.
Thank you for helping us advocate for animals!