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You can make a difference in two minutes! Email your Senator and the Senetors on the Judiciary Committee now (you can cut and paste the sample message below or write your own). Don't know who your Senator is? Below is a link to a Senate District locator using your zip code.
Sample Text:
"Dear [Senator]: If you haven't already, please cosponsor S.B. 1150, the bill to ban pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. It is time to stop permitting these cruel and unsportsmanlike events in our state. A handful of these events still take place in Pennsylvania. I ask that you join effort to bring this antiquated, cruel, and unsporting practice to an end Statewide. Sincerely, [Your name & address]"
Have another two minutes? Place a personal phone call to their office urging them to support SB 1150.
And if you have 5 more minutes, consider looking up your State Representative to let them know that you haven't forgotten the House version of this bill (HB 73).
From out of Berks County or Pennsylvania? In PA, please contact your Senator and Representative to encourage their support. Out of PA, contact the above Senators and tell them that you welcome PA into the family of States that has banned pigeon shoots!
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Dear Karel,
From time to time an important issue or legislative opportunity arises that the HSBC feels is important enough to share with you in a special E-Alert. |
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A Message from HSBC Executive Director, Karel Minor
Just four days ago, the Humane Society of Berks County told you that Senate Bill 1150 was finally coming up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. We asked you to help us to get the bill passed out of committee by calling or emailing your Senator and the Judiciary Committee Senators. I would not been in touch again so soon were it not for two major things that were brought to our attention this past weekend.
First, we received an anonymous tip that yet another pigeon shoot took place right here in Berks County yesterday. Almost on the eve of this historic vote, we saw that this pathetic practice, which disgusts those who care about animal welfare and traditional hunters alike, is alive and well in Berks County.
Second, the National Rifle Association has posted and emailed an "Action Alert" of their own, attempting to frighten their members into believing that this bill is a first step toward outlawing guns or hunting and that any opposition to pigeon shoots comes from outside Pennsylvania ( click here to read it for yourself). As much as we appreciate the NRA's concern outreach-- directed at us from their headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, not in Pennsylvania-- maybe they should leave it up to those of us who actually live in Pennsylvania and Berks County to decide if the time has come to join the other 49 States that have put an end to pigeon shoots.
The NRA would have us believe pigeon shoots are "ethical" events that are "steeped in tradition". If that's the case, why do they conduct them in secret? Maybe because they know that they are really a front for illegal gambling.
The NRA claims that "ethical shooting enthusiasts, hunters, and sportsmen who would not tolerate an activity that would constitute cruelty to animals". Really? Then why does the PA Game Commission say that pigeon shoots don't constitute "fair chase hunting"- the gold standard for real hunters? Why is it the traditional hunters of Pennsylvania who speak out the loudest about how unsporting and ridiculous pigeon shoots are?
The NRA says that SB 1150 is just the first attack on hunting or on gun ownership. What a joke! This is a very short and simple bill. It says three things:
- You can't launch or eject live birds and shoot at them.
- You can't tie a bird down to something and shoot at it.
- And that this law will not to make any changes to Pennsylvania's hunting laws.
You can't get clearer than that. Read it for yourself here-it's one page long.
The NRA quotes Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the HSUS, who apparently has some strong personal views about hunting, to scare Pennsylvania sportsmen into opposing this bill.
Well, I have a message for the NRA and for Wayne Pacelle: We'll make up our own minds in Pennsylvania, thank you very much. Because in Berks County, we do care about animals, but there is also a very good chance that we are, know, are related to, are friends with, or are married to hunters, fishermen and women, and sportsmen and women.
At the Humane Society of Berks County, an independent animal welfare organization, we have staff, volunteers, and donors who range from vegans to big game hunters. They have come together on the common ground that we want to help domestic animals in Pennsylvania. And sometimes, like right now, we come together on something like endorsing a ban on pigeon shoots right here in the last place they are legally allowed.
We can't let the NRA's scare tactics split us apart and we can't let their Washington lobbyists convince our Senators that the NRA knows better than you and me-- Pennsylvania's citizens.
Please, tell the Senate Judiciary Committee members and your State Senator that you are from Pennsylvania, that you support SB 1150, and that you expect them to put an end to Pennsylvania's and Berks County's national embarrassment now!
The vote is tomorrow. I need you to contact these Senators today. Right now. Please, use the easy links on the left to make your voice heard!
Your Partner in Animal Welfare,
Karel I. Minor
Executive Director
Humane Society of Berks County | |
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The Humane Society of Berks County serves all of Berks County and surrounding communities, sheltering 7,000 animals each year. It is a nationally recognized, award-winning, private, non-profit organization funded through donations and service fees. In addition to enforcing Pennsylvania's animal cruelty laws, the Humane Society offers adoption services, spay and neuter services, humane education, pet behavioral counseling, and help to stray, injured and mistreated animals.
The Humane Society of Berks County
1801 N. 11th Street
Reading, PA 19604
610-921-2348
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