Blog: Tea Party Member Against Animal Cruelty Bill

My No. 1 New Year's resolution this year is to quit complaining about what I don't like in my life and start doing something to change it.  Having recently retired, I've had time to start paying attention to the political scene and I am slack-jawed with disbelief at the shenannigans going on at both the state and national level! 

Here's an example-a bill that our California legislature passed recently:

SB 917 went into effect as of Jan. 1. Do you know how this so-called anti-animal abuse law (a wolf in sheep’s clothing) will ultimately affect you and your family?  No more pet giveaways in front of your neighborhood schools, flea markets, grocery stores, WalMarts, is only the most obvious! But if radical animal rights groups have their way, you may be made a criminal for much more!

Cleverly hidden in SB 917 (Lieu, Animal abuse), a bill that, on its face, looks like additional safeguards to stop animal cruelty (and what humane person would object to stopping animal cruelty?), is the mandate that you cannot find a good home for that unexpected, unplanned for litter of puppies or kittens by putting them in a cardboard box (with adequate food and water, of course) and taking them down to your neighborhood grocery store or flea market and giving them away to people who want a pet.

Here is the exact wording in the bill that applies to giving away household pets:

This bill would provide, in addition and with specified exceptions, that it shall be a crime, punishable as specified, for any person to willfully sell or give away as part of a commercial transaction, a live animal on any street, highway, public right-of-way, parking lot, carnival, or boardwalk, or to display or offer for sale, or display or offer to give away (emphasis added) as part of a commercial transaction, a live animal if the act of selling or giving away the live animal is to occur on any street, highway, public right-of-way, parking lot, carnival, or boardwalk.

Think carefully about "or display or offer to give away."  This would mean that if you walk your dog or if your cat suns herself in your front yard you are, by the strictest interpretation of this law, "displaying" an animal and are guilty of "animal cruelty," which will be a misdemeanor replete with arrest, jail time, seizure of your animal, and punitive fines.

How much more intrusion into your daily life by government are you willing to allow before you start fighting back?

Carmichael Tea Party Activists is a group fighting for California's return to the basic principles of constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets. We organized our group to educate and motivate people to effectively fight City Hall.

We have projects tailored to allow participation from minimal to maximum levels in this fight. We find out where your interests and passions lie and provide you with options from which you can choose in your commitment to "make a difference."

We work locally only; there are plenty of tea party groups who prefer to work on a national level. Our philosophy is that all real change comes from the bottom and works its way up. That's exactly how the liberals/progressives have done it for the past 40 years here in California, and that's why they now completely run our state and have run it into the ground. Up until now we have stood by and let them do it. 

We actually have fun working together on our projects. It is very rewarding to join with people of like hearts and minds and work together to accomplish goals we all believe in. We would like to invite you to attend one of our monthly group meetings, share your thoughts and ideas, and get involved in or start a project that is of passionate interest to you.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 26, from 7-9 p.m. at the . Please join our Meetup group and keep updated on all future meetings.  If you would like to get notices of our action alerts and updates on current projects, please email me at pampink@pacbell.net, and I will add you to our distribution list.

I look forward to meeting my new Carmichael activist friends! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at any time at the above address.