Dear New Jersey Sportsmen and Animal Owners,



On November 6, 2007 New Jersey voters head to the polls to elect members to the Senate and General Assembly. For animal owners and sportsmen this is a time for study and reflection on candidate’s viewpoints on issues that will affect our rights in the future.



Humane USA PAC, the ballot and political campaign arm of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), brags that 36 of the 42 New Jersey candidates backed by Humane USA PAC emerged victorious in 2005.



HSUS is hard at work again in New Jersey campaigning to elect their advocates. In August, Humane USA NJ held a fundraiser for Assemblyman Michael Panter. The Humane USA NJ website states “He [Panter] is the leading animal advocate in the New Jersey state legislature, and he would not be there but for Humane USA’s support.”



HSUS has a long standing history of opposing purposeful breeding, especially of pure bred dogs, and makes no distinction between hobby and commercial breeders. In the eyes of HSUS, all breeders are puppy mills and breeding of domestic animals, including pets, should be ended.



HSUS has vowed to end hunting in the U.S. and their current campaign specifically targets hunting with hounds, field coursing and bear hunting



Anti-dog, anti-breeder, anti-hunting bills of note introduced with HSUS assistance in New Jersey include:



Assembly Bill A3401, one of the most repressive anti-breeder, anti-dog bills introduced last year, sponsored by Assemblyman Neil Cohen

and currently AB 3275. The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Michael Panter, D- Shrewsbury, will change the make up of the Fish & Game Council. With committee amendments, it will remove the six sportsmen and three farmers from the Fish & Game Council and replace them with seven appointees recommended by the governor.


Humane USA PAC’s 2007 endorsements in New Jersey for the November elections will eventually be listed here: http://www.humaneusa.org/humaneusanj.htm

Previously endorsed and funded Trenton animal rightist incumbents standing for reelection include the following list. Please support the *challengers* of these politicians.



Senate

Wayne Bryant (D-Camden)
Christopher Connors ( R-Forked River ) – running for his father’s seat
Nia Gill (D-Montclair)
Raymond Lesniak (D-Union)*
Robert Martin (R-Morris Plains)



Assembly

Herb Conaway (D) District 7

Michael Panter (D) District 12

Reed Gusciora (D) District 15

Joan Voss (D) District 38

Charlotte Vandervalk (R) District 39



Full list of candidates by District is attached in PDF with HSUS 2005 endorsements noted. Additional information on candidates and websites can be found here: November 2007 Election New Jersey Legislature http://www.njvoterinfo.org/2007election/masterindex.php



Of special note, New Jersey Sportsmen are planning an intensive rally in Monmouth County Sunday, October 28 to protest current bills that would change the New Jersey Fish and Game Council from its present 11-man board to a 7-man board.

http://tinyurl.com/2hfz3z



Please share this message widely.



The world is governed by those who show up - to vote on November 6th.



Sincerely,

Susan Wolf

Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance - http://saova.org
Issue lobbying and working to identify and elect supportive legislators

Still floating around in New Jersey is the possibility of Assembly Bill A2649, which would legalize libel and slander against any New Jersey dog owner by allowing anyone to make false complaints of animal cruelty with impunity.

Under the proposed change in this law, even if the animal cruelty charges someone is accused of are shown to be false, the person who was falsely accused in the first place will have no legal rememdy against their accuser. The proposed law prevents them (the person lying about animal cruelty )from being sued either civilly or criminally.

New Jersey law already protects someone telling the truth when reporting animal cruelty. There is no reason to pass a new law, which would protect people who want to lie about it.

The bottom line is make sure you tell your current state Assembly person that you are against A2649 AND THEY SHOULD BE SO TOO IF THEY WANT YOUR VOTE IN NOVEMBER.

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/legsearch.asp

Please take the time to e-mail your legislators or phone them.

A petition circulated recently against NJ Assembly Bill 2649 said:

"We support reasonable laws that promote the well being of animals and strongly oppose laws that ignore science and interfere with decisions that should be made by pet owners and their veterinarians. Many of the provisions of this Assembly Bill are unreasonable and unconstitutional. Feuding neighbors, aggrieved ex-spouses and animal rights extremists could harass others with no fear of retribution or recompense. Property could be seized by nongovernmental employees, which exceeds the legal discretion that other police officers have. A treatment "Deemed necessary by a reasonable prudent person" could take animal health and care decisions from the owner to some other third party instead of their veterinarians. If you value having my vote this November, I hope you will come out publicly against A2649, and when the time comes, vote against it.

Please feel free to use this info.