Monday, February 18, 2013
I was very excited this morning when I woke up because I knew today was the day that I was going to the Capitol to lobby my legislators for the humane treatment of animals. I arrived at the Capitol around Noon today. It was a very windy an chilly day and the walk up the hill from my parking space was a workout for sure. J
I was very excited this morning when I woke up because I knew today was the day that I was going to the Capitol to lobby my legislators for the humane treatment of animals. I arrived at the Capitol around Noon today. It was a very windy an chilly day and the walk up the hill from my parking space was a workout for sure. J
I
checked in with Iowa Voters for Companion Animals. They were very organized this year. They had a packet of information available
for each person who checked in. They looked up who my State Senator and
Representative were and told me what seat they were in. Inside the packet of information were talking
points to mention to my legislators. For
folks who were there to lobby for the first they, they had some volunteers to
educate them on how the process works and how to speak to their legislators.
This
is my fourth Humane Lobby Day visit, so I knew what to do. For those of you who don’t know what to
expect, let me explain how it works. The legislators are there as
representatives of the people and most of the time they are more than happy to
speak to their constituents. As you take
the stairs up to the 2nd floor, the Senate is on the left and the
House is on the right.
My
first stop was at the Senate. There is a
desk just outside the door with a map showing what seat each senator sits
in. I knew my senator is, Kent Sorenson, but if you don’t
know, there is a map that can tell you.
You can also go to the Iowa Legislator website and click on
the Find Your Legislator link.
Once
you find out who your senator is, there is a slip of paper you fill out with
his name, seat number, date, time, any message you have, your name, and whether
or not you are waiting to see him. Then
give this slip to one of the door men and they will take it onto the
floor. In my case, Mr. Sorenson was not
on the floor so they asked if I wanted to leave a message or come back in 20
minutes. I decided to come back and went
to see my House Representative.
The
steps involved in visiting your House Representative are the same. My Representative is Scott Ourth.
I
gave my slip to the doorman and was very pleasantly surprised with Mr. Ourth
came out in just a few moments to speak to me.
I explained to him that I was there because it was Iowa Humane Lobby Day
and showed him photos of dogs from commercial breeders that we have helped here
at our rescue. Mr. Ourth states he has
seen similar photos before and understood the problem. He asked why, specifically, I was there.
I
visited with him about the laws that have recently been passed with regards to
inspecting commercial breeders and my fear that they were not being
enforced. While I understand that the
legislature does not enforce the laws, I hoped there was something they could do
to make it easier for them to be enforced, such as hiring more inspectors and
being aware of any issues other lawmakers may try to slip through. I referenced the previous bill where a
representative tried to change a dog’s status from companion animal to
livestock. Mr. Ourth really understood
the issues I was concerned with. He even
took down the information for my rescue and invited me onto the House Floor to
visit and have his photo taken with me.
I was truly pleasantly surprised that he really seemed to care.
When
I was done visiting with Mr. Ourth, I went back over to the Senate side and
tried to visit with Mr. Sorenson again.
He was still not on the floor, so I left a message with my contact
information. As of today, I have yet to
hear from him.
To
Be Continued in Part 2…
Be
Well & Be Happy,
Pet~Pourri
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