VIRGINIA HUNTING DOG ALLIANCE FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 657
Powhatan, Virginia 23139
E-mail: info@vahda.org
Kirby Burch: 804.794.8612
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2nd, 2017
HB 1900 Punishing Dogs For Being Dogs Faces Massive Grassroots Opposition
— Virginia House of Delegates staffers say opposition is strongest in a generation — Opposition from Virginians more intense than proposed constitutional convention
— HB1900 would make lawbreakers out of neighbors, animal rights activists, and hunters
POWHATAN, VIRGINIA (February 2nd, 2017) — After having moved HB1900 from Agriculture to General Laws and finally to House Rules Committee in an acrobatic effort to get the bill through, HB1900 is facing serious opposition from Virginians across the commonwealth who understand HB1900s unfair provisions.
“HB1900 creates the false expectation that this bill addresses accidental trespass,” stated Kirby Burch, president of the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance. “What is worse, HB1900 creates the false and unfair impression that property owners will somehow still get relief.
“The provision within HB1900 allowing property owners to detain dogs until they are identified will ultimately require the involvement of local law enforcement to ascertain the event. This unfairly burdens local law enforcement in instances that not only wreck the “right to retrieve” law in Virginia, but ensures HB1900’s provisions will be utterly unworkable, eminently unfair, and entirely unenforceable in Virginia localities.
“VAHDA was encouraged to see a similar bill (SB1525) fail unanimously in a committee vote in the Virginia Senate. We expect members of the House of Delegates to listen to their constituents and weigh very carefully their vote on HB1900 next week.”
HB1900’s companion legislation in the Virginia Senate, SB1525, died 0-15 in committee earlier last week. VAHDA is pledging to scorecard the vote on HB1900.
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