The 2005 General Assembly session today adjourned sine die. This was an odd year, "short" 45-day session. Historically, short sessions were limited to thirty days and only considered the Governor's budget amendments and emergency legislation. This year, 3013 bills were introduced and considered, an average of 22 per legislator and 67 bills every working day. Typically, an alternate-year, "long" session considers about the same number of bills over 15 additional days. Approximately 56% of all bills succeed and unless opposition to a measure is quickly expressed, it's likely to pass. There simply isn't time for Virginia's bills to receive significant research or study during the normal legislative process.

Without a biennial budget or major taxes to negotiate, this session was largely concerned with social issues, including marriage partners, human and pet reproduction and pornography. There were an unusual number of such bills, as well as 70+ proposed constitutional amendments, 50 gun bills, 30 miscellaneous hunting bills and a "droopy" pants bill. Very rarely are our laws implemented through agency public rulemakings and Virginia's Governor remains the only chief executive in the U.S. limited to a single term. Hence, the importance of electing the most responsive and thoughtful delegates and senators. For broad session highlights, click here.

The capsule summary of VHDOA's lobbying efforts is that of thirteen (13) ill-conceived bills, all of which would have negatively impacted on your interests, NONE became law. This positive result largely replicates last year's. Thankfully, we had more non-hunting dog owner assistance this session. There were a smaller variety of bad animal owner bills, but several were so terrible as to be historic. These wins were achieved at the committee level of both chambers, as well as on a Senate floor. Details and early comments on Virginia's 2005 elections follow.

HB629 (O'Bannon) #1 misdemeanor animal cruelty penalty raised to #5 felony
OPPOSED - Continued to 2005 - Left in AC&NR Committee.

HB630 (O'Bannon) Owners that "reasonably should have known" their dog would bite someone and don’t prevent it are guilty of a #5 felony.
OPPOSED - Continued to 2005 - Left in Courts of Justice Committee.

HB646 (Bell) Creates a new, independent animal cruelty code section with increased felony penalties, while dropping existing exemption provisions. OPPOSED – Continued to 2005 - Left in Appropriations Committee.

HB1192 (James Scott, et al) Any dog frightening someone or off-leash on another’s property is deemed "potentially dangerous" - $500 fine, 3 years leashed at all times. OPPOSED – Continued to 2005 - Left in AC&NR Committee.

The four bills above were initially stopped last session and reaffirmed buried in December 2004.

HB1612 (Cole) Presumes a hunting dog on posted property was intentionally released there and imposes Class 4 misdemeanor penalty (up to $250 fine) on the owner. OPPOSED - Struck by Patron

HB1884 (Hargrove) Raises permitted dog license fees to $35 and requires (rather than allows) collected fees be used to fund spay-neuter programs. OPPOSED - Tabled in AC&NR Committee.

HB2338 (Athey) Requires that local bodies license pet sellers, rather than allow such licensing. OPPOSED- Amended in AC&NR Committee to delete required licensing. Neutered bill passed General Assembly on 2/22.

HB2723 (James Scott) Any dog frightening someone or chasing a cat is deemed "potentially dangerous" - $500 fine, 3 years leashed at all times. OPPOSED – Passed by Indefinitely (PBI) in AC&NR Committee.

HB2927 (Kilgore) Required virtually all Virginia pets be spayed or neutered before ownership transfer. OPPOSED - Struck by Patron.

SB765 (Locke, BaCote) Raises permitted dog license fees to $30 and caps sterilized licenses at $10, regardless of a locality's wishes. OPPOSED - Senate lowered $30 fee to $20 and passed bill 22-18. Tabled in House AC&NR Committee.

SB775 (Potts) Live animal dumping or abandonment treated as a Class 1 misdemeanor under Virginia's highway littering code, rather than as animal abuse. No guidance or standard to distinguish between lost, strayed or dumped animals. OPPOSED - Left in Courts of Justice Committee.

SB952 (Potts) Humane education requirement in Virginia K-12 schools. Responsibility already included in current character education curriculum. Heavy HSUS and PETA support lobbying. OPPOSED - Defeated on the Senate Floor, 22-17.

HJ768 (Ward) A joint House-Senate resolution declaring that "irresponsible breeders" are the cause of "many" pet euthanizations and taxpayer funded animal control and pound costly operations. Urges localities to provide spay-neuter "incentives." Biased basis, erroneous data and unsupported allegation. OPPOSED – Insignificant revisions made. Passed General Assembly 2/25.

Virginia's waterfowlers are to be congratulated on the passage of their floating blind reform bill, HB2689 (Pollard). This is the culmination of a multi-year effort against very tough opposition.

Virginia's 2005 Elections
On June 14, 2005, the State Democratic and Republican parties will hold primaries to select statewide and House of Delegates candidates for the November general election. As it did two years ago, VHDOA will again interview candidates and analyze their voting records to determine which individuals best support your interests in Richmond. Those deserving special recognition will be identified.

The marque races involve the offices of Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General. All but Tim Kaine's gubernatorial primary are currently contested, but not all the candidates are financially competitive. The most interesting development to-date is Sen. H. Russell Potts' (R-Winchester) independent candidacy for Governor. His candidacy will make the top of the ballot Kaine v. Kilgore struggle tighter. There are some unusually strong sportsmen supporters running in the down-ticket races. More on all of these contests and the House ones later.

Thank you for your continued assistance and encouragement. After some tough legislative years, we've taken back our General Assembly from misdirected animal rightist factions. Let's maintain that position. Every vote counts in June and November.