Sample Letter & Addresses for Proposed California Legislation (AB-202)

Legislative Alert - 2/7/2003

Proposed California Legislation (AB-202)

SAMPLE LETTER - ADDRESSES

Here are the addresses of the members of the Committee on Business and Professions (the committee that AB 202 is in). Be sure to also send a copy of your letter to your own representative, even if he/she is not in this committee. The last 2 numbers of the phone and fax numbers are the district that each assembly person represents. Be sure to be clear, concise and polite in your letters. A sample letter is included after the list of addresses. Feel free to modify this letter to make it more personal to you.

Lou Correa, Chair
State Capitol,
Room 6025,
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2069
Fax: (916) 319-2169

Shirley Horton, Vice Chair
State Capitol,
Room 5126
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2078
Fax: (916) 319-2178

Greg Aghazarian
State Capitol,
Room 2130
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2026

Rudy Bermúdez
State Capitol
Room 5135
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2056
Fax: (916) 319-2156

Ellen M. Corbett
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0001
Phone: (916) 319-2018
fax: (916) 319-2118

Paul Koretz
State Capitol
Room 2176
Sacramento, CA 95814-0042
Phone: (916) 319-2042
Fax: (916) 319-2142

Abel Maldonado
State Capitol
Room 4015
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2033
Fax: (916) 319-2133

Joe Nation
State Capitol
Room 3013
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2006
Fax: (916) 319-2106

Juan Vargas
State Capitol
Room 2013
Sacramento, CA 94249-0001
Phone: (916) 319-2079
Fax: (916) 319-2179

Mark Wyland
State Capitol
Room 4130
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2074
Fax: (916) 319-2174

Leland Yee Ph.D.
State Capitol
Room 2188
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2012
Fax: (916) 319-2112

----------------------- Sample Letter ----------------------

Dear _____________,

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed AB 202 regarding the sale of unweaned baby birds. I have been an exotic bird breeder for years and, although I do not sell unweaned birds, I am against this proposed bill. I feel it is not only unreasonable but will do nothing to protect baby birds and it would destroy many California businesses.

It is standard industry practice to sell unweaned birds to pet shops and other retail outlets where properly trained personnel can hand-feed and sell the birds after they are weaned. Experienced and skilled employees hand-feed the birds resulting in healthy and socialized companion pets. This also allows potential purchasers to visit with their bird and learn about its care prior to it being taken home. Furthermore, from a business standpoint, a pet shop is not going to spend great sums of money on hand-raised exotic birds only to have them injured or killed by inadequately trained employees. The unethical sale of unweaned birds to non-qualified people is an insignificant problem that does not warrant legislation. Instead, this attempt to regulate the sale of unweaned birds will have severely damaging effects on birds and bird businesses.

AB 202 states that any location that sells birds, retail or wholesale, is designated as a pet shop. Under section 122322, anyone who sells birds is thereby prohibited from possessing unweaned baby birds. How can breeders raise birds if they are prohibited from possessing unweaned babies? This provision effectively outlaws the breeding of birds and would thereby put every exotic bird farm in California out of business.

Many bird breeders work with endangered species and the loss of income from the sale of pet birds would drastically affect those of us who use that income to offset the expenses of working with these rare species. Many bird breeders hold "genetic banks" of birds that are so critically endangered in their habitats that they will likely become extinct in the wild within the next decade. It is hoped that one day we will be able to repopulate extinct wild populations from the stock we now hold in captivity.

California enjoys a mild climate that is conducive to raising exotic birds. In fact, the state of California is the largest producer of pet birds in the country. Birds raised here supply pet stores and pet owners all across the United States. AB 202 would destroy this California industry along with other industries such as cage and food manufacturers, farmers who grow bird seed, airlines that ship birds and, most of all, it would eliminate the jobs for the employees of all of these businesses. With these points in mind, I respectfully request that you withdraw AB 202.

Sincerely,

_____________
(your name)

----------------------- Proposed Bill ----------------------

AB 202 Assembly Bill - INTRODUCED
BILL NUMBER: AB 202 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT

INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Corbett
JANUARY 28, 2003

An act to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 122320) to Part 6
of Division 105 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to birds.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 202, as introduced, Corbett. Birds: sale.

Existing law contains several requirements applicable to pet
dealers of dogs and cats and provides that those provisions are not
applicable to publicly operated pounds and humane societies.

This bill would require a pet shop, as defined, to maintain
written records on the sale of each bird, as defined, and would
prohibit pet shops from possessing or selling an unweaned bird. This
bill would require those records to be available to humane officers,
animal control officers, and law enforcement officers for inspection
during normal business hours. This bill would provide that these
provisions do not apply to publicly operated pounds and humane
societies.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 122320) is added to
Part 6 of Division 105 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

CHAPTER 6. SALE OF BIRDS

122320. As used in this chapter:

(a) "Bird" means any order of Psittaciformes bird.

(b) "Unweaned bird" means any bird that is unaccustomed to eating
enough food without human or animal assistance to sustain its own
weight for at least two weeks.

(c) (1) "Pet shop" means any place or premises where pet birds are
kept for the purpose of either wholesale or retail sale.

(2) Pet shop does not include any person, firm, partnership,
corporation, or other association that breeds or raises birds on the
premises of the person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other
association and is not required to possess a permit pursuant to
Section 6066 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

122321. This chapter does not apply to publicly operated pounds
and humane societies.

122322. A pet shop may not be in possession of a bird or sell a
bird that is unweaned.

122323. A pet shop shall maintain a written record on the health,
status, disposition, and age at time of acquisition and at sale of
each bird for a period of not less than one year after disposition of
the bird. Those records shall be available to humane officers,
animal control officers, and law enforcement officers for inspection
during normal business hours.

122324. (a) Any person violating any provision of this chapter
shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars
($1,000) per violation. The action may be prosecuted in the name of
the people of the State of California by the district attorney for
the county where the violation occurred in the appropriate court or
by the city attorney in the city where the violation occurred.
(b) Nothing in this chapter limits or authorizes any act or
omission that violates Section 597 of the Penal Code.

(reproduced with permission from Avian Resources - avianresourc@earthlink.net )

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