Humane Legislation Seminar

Yesterday I attended a seminar sponsored by the HSUS, ASPCA and Grey2K USA. The whole seminar was on being an effective advocate for the animals and although most of the information was a refresher course for me, there were lots of attendees who really needed the information which was being provided.

First, know who your representatives are and call them or even better, go by their office. Be short and sweet, thank them for their service, and simply let them know the issues which are important to you. Although they discussed using the internet, they also pointed out to us how important phone calls or visits were.

They also advised us to pick our battles carefully. Sometimes we must go around our elbow to get to our knee. Case in point was the beastiality bill, which just passed this year. It took 4 years of work to pass a bill simply because it was something no one wanted to talk about. So make sure your focus is narrow and understand it may take a while.

I was amazed at how many people were not hearing what they were saying and once again, I am amazed at how agenda oriented some animal people are. If it is not their idea, they could care less about the issue.

The truth is we all have agendas, but the more we help each other get legislation passed to help whatever animals we are helping, the animals are who wins. Isn't that supposed to be what we are working for?